Tennessee § 2-10-110 - Penalties.

§ 2-10-110. Penalties.

The registry of election finance may impose a civil penalty for a violation of this part as provided in this section. “Class 1 offense” means the late filing of any report or statement required by this part. A Class 1 offense shall be punishable by a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per day up to a maximum of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750). For local public offices, the county administrator of elections shall have personally served upon, or send by return receipt requested mail, an assessment letter to any candidate or committee upon the administrator's discovery that a due report has not been filed. The administrator shall forward a copy of such notice to the registry of election finance. For state public offices, the registry of election finance shall have personally served upon, or send by return receipt requested mail, an assessment letter to any candidate or committee upon the registry or its appropriate staff discovering that a due report has not been filed. A civil penalty of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per day shall begin to accrue five (5) days after personal service or receipt of the letter and shall continue to accrue until the report is filed or for thirty (30) days, whichever occurs first; provided, that no civil penalty shall be imposed by the registry of election finance if a candidate fails to list a contribution on a filed report but corrects the omission to the registry's satisfaction within ten (10) business days from the date on which the candidate is served process by, or receives notice from, the registry. This ten-day period shall not serve to stay the running of any time period or reduce any penalty established by this section. A candidate shall only be allowed to correct up to two (2) omissions in one (1) calendar year and the total of the omissions shall not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000). Any omission corrected by the candidate prior to the registry's discovery of the omission shall not count against the limitation on correction of omissions. For any Class 1 offense, the registry of election finance, through its appropriate staff, shall send an assessment letter to a candidate or committee in a form sufficient to advise the candidate or committee of the factual basis of the violation, the maximum penalty and the date a response to the letter must be filed. If a disclosure report is returned to a candidate or committee for correction, a copy of the original shall be retained on file until the corrected report is returned to the registry of election finance. If the original filing was in compliance with the intent of the law and minor errors are corrected within the date set for a response, no penalty shall be assessed. To request a waiver, reduction, or to in any way contest a Class 1 penalty imposed by the registry of election finance, a candidate for a state or local public office shall file a petition with the registry of election finance. Such petition may be considered as a contested case proceeding under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5. “Class 2 offense” means failing to file a report required by this part within thirty-five (35) days after service of process or receipt of notice by registered or certified mail of an assessment or any other violation of the requirements of this part. A Class 2 offense is punishable by a maximum civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or fifteen percent (15%) of the amount in controversy, if fifteen percent (15%) of the amount in controversy is greater than ten thousand dollars ($10,000). For state and local public offices, the registry of election finance may impose a civil penalty for any Class 2 offense; provided, that no penalty shall be imposed by the registry of election finance if a candidate fails to list a contribution on a filed report but corrects the omission to the registry's satisfaction within ten (10) business days from the date on which the candidate is served process by, or receives notice from, the registry. This ten-day period shall not serve to stay the running of any time period established by this section. A candidate shall only be allowed to correct up to two (2) omissions in one (1) calendar year and the total of the omissions shall not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000). Any omission corrected by the candidate prior to the registry's discovery of the omission shall not count against the limitation on correction of omissions. To request a waiver, reduction, or to in any way contest a Class 2 penalty imposed by the registry of election finance, a candidate for a state or local public office shall file a petition with the registry of election finance. Such petition may be considered as a contested case proceeding under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act. “Amount in controversy” means, as appropriate to the case, the greater of the total expenditures or total contributions, either of which or both of which are shown on a late report subsequently filed, or the amount of an expenditure or contribution that was not reported or was incorrectly reported. Penalties imposed under this part shall be deposited into the state general fund. The registry of election finance shall maintain a register of all civil penalties imposed under this part and remaining unpaid. If a civil penalty lawfully assessed and any lawfully assessed cost attendant to the penalty are not paid within thirty (30) days after the assessment becomes final, or by the qualifying deadline for election, whichever is earlier, the candidate owing such civil penalty shall be ineligible to qualify for election to any state or local public office until such penalty and costs are paid. If a civil penalty authorized by this section is imposed, it shall be considered as a personal judgment against the candidate. A candidate for state or local public office who fails to file any statement or report required by this part shall be ineligible to qualify for election to any state or local public office until such statement or report is filed with either the registry or the appropriate county election commission, or both. It is the intent of the general assembly that the sanctions provided in this section shall be the civil penalties enacted into law by Acts 1989, ch. 585. For any civil penalty levied by the registry against a multicandidate political campaign committee under this section or § 2-10-308, the treasurer of the committee is personally liable for the penalty. If a civil penalty lawfully assessed and any lawfully assessed cost attendant to the penalty are not paid within thirty (30) days after the assessment becomes final, the multicandidate political campaign committee owing the civil penalty shall be prohibited from receiving contributions; making expenditures to support or oppose candidates; or making expenditures to other multicandidate political campaign committees; and the treasurer and officers of such delinquent multicandidate political campaign committee shall be prohibited from creating another multicandidate political campaign committee or serving as a treasurer or an officer for another multicandidate political campaign committee until such penalty and all costs attendant to the penalty are paid in full. Acts 1980, ch. 861, § 11; 1989, ch. 585, § 19; 1989, ch. 591, § 113; 1990, ch. 943, § 2; 1991, ch. 519, §§ 7-9; 1996, ch. 1005, § 3; 1997, ch. 464, § 1; 2006 (1st Ex. Sess.), ch. 1, § 6; 2007, ch. 151, §§ 1, 2. Compiler's Notes. For codification of Acts 1989, ch. 585, referred to in this section, see the Session Law Disposition Tables in Volume 13. Acts 1997, ch. 464, § 2 provides that this act shall apply to any conduct that occurs on or after June 13, 1997, leading to the imposition of a penalty. References to the county “registrar-at-large” and “deputy registrar” have been changed to “administrator of elections” and “deputy”, respectively, pursuant to Acts 1997, ch. 558, §§ 21 and 22. Acts 2006 (1st Ex. Sess.), ch. 1, § 1 provided that the act is and may be cited as the “Comprehensive Governmental Ethics Reform Act of 2006.” Cross-References. Certified mail in lieu of registered mail, § 1-3-111 . Textbooks. Tennessee Jurisprudence, 3 Tenn. Juris., Attorney General, § 4. Law Reviews. Curtailing the Cudgel of “Coordination” by Curing Confusion: How States Can Fix What the Feds Got Wrong on Campaign Finance, 48 U. Mem. L. Rev. 463 (2017). Attorney General Opinions. Constitutionality of subsections (c) and (d), OAG 96-149 (12/31/96). Failure to file conflict of interest disclosure report, OAG 97-134 (9/29/97). An individual who has an unpaid civil assessment imposed by the registry of election finance or a county election commission that has been final for more than 30 days may not qualify to win election as a write-in candidate and take office, unless the assessment is paid on or before election day, OAG 02-082 (7/19/02). An individual who has not filed a required disclosure report may not qualify to win election as a write-in candidate and take office, unless the report is filed on or before election day, OAG 02-082 (7/19/02). Under this section, it is not entirely clear that the Registry of Election Finance may levy a penalty for class 2 offenses against a single-issue political campaign committee; because the Registry has the jurisdiction to administer and enforce disclosure requirements, questions about applicable penalties should be referred first to that agency, OAG 04-135 (8/23/04). The U.S. Postal Service notation of “unclaimed” may be treated as a refusal to accept delivery and equivalent to service or receipt, whether the letter was sent within Tennessee or out of Tennessee, OAG 04-141 (8/31/04).