| Request that the Board waive the $500, $40 & $360 campaign finance late fees assessed against Thomas Jones, Jr., a candidate for Mayor, City of Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, in the March 24, 2018 election, whose Special, EDE-P and 10-G campaign finance disclosure reports was filed 27, 1, & 9 days late, respectively. |
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Thomas Jones, Jr. states that he received his packet upon qualifying and read the material and truly thought he understood the process. He states he marked the reporting dates on his calendar and somehow overlooked the Special reporting requirement threshold of donations exceeding $250. After going through the instructions again, he states he recognized his error and called the Board of Ethics office to explain his mistake.
Mr. Thomas also states the reason for filing the EDE-P report 1 day late is that he did try to fax the report several times on the report due date but didn't get an answer. He included a fax report showing the date and time of the transmittal attempt. He states he went to another location and faxed the report the following day.
On the 10-G report filed 9 days late, Mr. Jones states the report was late because the due date was deleted from his calendar and amid all the campaigning door-to-door and phone calling, he simply missed the deadline. He states this is his first time dealing with reporting campaign contributions. All his funds are exhausted, he states as he used contributions and spent a substantial amount of his personal funds on this campaign. He states he made a honest mistakes and stands at the mercy of the board to waive the fines.
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ELECTION: March 24, 2018
TYPES OF REPORT: Special (48 Hour), EDE-P & 10-G
DAYS LATE: 27, 1 & 9
ASSESSED FEE: $500, $40 $360
REPORTS DUE: March 8, 2018; April 3, 2018; April 18, 2018
REPORTS FILED: April 4, 2018; April 4, 2018; April 27, 2018
ACTIVITY REPORTED: Special - $1,500 in Receipts
EDE-P: Schedule B; Election Day Worker - $550
10-G: $3,200 in Receipts; $2,167.28 in Disbursements and $1,032.72 in Funds on Hand at Close of Reporting Period
OTHER LATE FILINGS: NONE
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18:1505.4.A(1) Any candidate, the treasurer or chairman of a political committee, or any other person required to file any reports under this Chapter, who knowingly fails to file or who knowingly fails to timely file any such reports as are required by this Chapter may be assessed a civil penalty for each day until such report is filed. 18:1484.(2)(b). Each candidate for any other public office shall file reports of contributions in excess of two hundred dollars in the aggregate during the aggregating period.
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Waive the late fee for the EDE-P report.
Decline to waive for the Special and 10-G reports.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Jennifer Land |
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