SC public officials owe millions in unpaid ethics fines

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -
A review of ethics fines has found a total of 413 elected officials, lobbyists, and political groups who owe the State Ethics Commission more than $2.6 million in unpaid ethics fines.

The bulk of the groups were fined after ethics commissioners found them guilty of failing to file ethics forms on time.


State Ethics laws require elected officials and candidates for office to file a statement of economic interest form annually and when they initially file for office. The law also requires officials and candidates to file quarterly campaign disclosures so the public knows who's paying politicians and where those contributions are going. Not filing the forms results in a late filing penalty of $100 for each violation, then $100 a day fine for each count after that.

WHO OWES THE MOST

During this investigation, we broke the ethics debtors list into two categories: officials currently in office and those out of office and candidates who were never elected. Our analysis shows 38 currently elected officials owe the State Ethics Commission a total of $387,707.24 and another 94 former officials and former candidates who owe $2,118,981.74.

more at:

http://www.wistv.com/story/24978949/sc-public-officials-owe-millions-in-unpaid-ethics-fines?page=1&N=F