SEC. 1.525. ADMINISTRATIVE AND CIVIL ENFORCEMENT, AND PENALTIES.
§ 1.525
This section establishes penalties for late campaign finance reporting by consultants ($50–$100 per day depending on election proximity), procedures for the Ethics Commission to investigate and enforce violations of campaign consultant registration rules, and civil and criminal liability for violations, with a four-year statute of limitations.
Campaign consultants who file required financial reports late must pay fines: $50 per day after the deadline, or $100 per day if the deadline is within 30 days of an election. The Ethics Commission can reduce or drop the fine if the late filing wasn't intentional. The Commission can investigate complaints about violations, and if it finds a violation occurred, it can order the person to stop the violation, file missing reports, pay up to $5,000 per violation (or three times the unreported amount, whichever is larger), or suspend the consultant's registration for up to a year. The City Attorney can also sue for civil damages under similar amounts, and violations can be charged as a misdemeanor crime. However, any action must be brought within four years of when the violation happened or was discovered.
- Complex:The section cross-references multiple Charter sections and involves layered enforcement mechanisms (administrative, civil, and criminal) with varying penalty amounts based on different conditions, making it difficult for a lay reader to grasp the full enforcement landscape.
- Controversial:Civil and criminal penalties for campaign finance violations, and the Ethics Commission's power to cancel a consultant's registration for a year, touch on enforcement intensity and individual rights—topics San Franciscans reasonably debate.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) If any campaign consultant files an original statement or report after any deadline imposed by this Chapter, the Ethics Commission shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies established in this Chapter, fine the campaign consultant $50 per day after the deadline until the statement or report is received by the Ethics Commission. If any campaign consultant files an original statement or report after any deadline imposed by this Chapter, when the deadline is fewer than 30 days before or after an election, the Ethics Commission shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies established in this Chapter, fine the campaign consultant $100 per day after the deadline until the statement or report is received by the Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission may reduce or waive a fine if the Commission determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement will not further the purposes of this Chapter. The Ethics Commission shall deposit funds collected under this Section in the General Fund of the City and County of San Francisco.
(b) Any person who believes that Section 1.510 has been violated may file a complaint with the Ethics Commission. Upon receipt of a complaint, or upon its own initiative, the Commission may investigate allegations of a violation of Section 1.510 and enforce the provisions of Section 1.510 pursuant to the procedures established in San Francisco Charter Section C3.699-13, and the Commission's rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Charter Section 15.102.*
(c) When the Commission, pursuant to the procedures specified in Charter Section C3.699-13, determines on the basis of substantial evidence that a person or entity has violated Section 1.510, the Commission may require the person or entity to: (1) cease and desist the violation; (2) file any reports or statements or pay any fees required by this Chapter, and/or (3) pay a monetary penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation, or three times the amount not properly reported, whichever is greater. The Commission may cancel for up to one year the registration of any campaign consultant who has violated Section 1.510. A campaign consultant whose registration has been canceled pursuant to this Section may not provide campaign consulting services in exchange for economic consideration for the period that the registration is canceled. When the period of cancellation ends, the campaign consultant may reregister pursuant to Section 1.515(a) and (c).
(d) Any person or entity which knowingly or negligently violates or who causes any other person to violate Section 1.510 may be liable in a civil action brought by the City Attorney for an amount up to $5,000 per violation, or three times the amount not properly reported, whichever is greater.
(e) Any person or entity which intentionally or negligently violates Section 1.510 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(f) No administrative, civil, or criminal action shall be maintained to enforce Section 1.510 unless brought within four years after the date the cause of action accrued or the date that the facts constituting the cause of action were discovered by the Ethics Commission, City Attorney, or District Attorney, whichever is later.
(g) In investigating any alleged violation of Section 1.510, the Ethics Commission and City Attorney shall have the power to inspect, upon reasonable notice, all documents required to be maintained under Section 1.515(i). This power to inspect documents is in addition to other powers conferred on the Ethics Commission and City Attorney by the Charter, or by ordinance, including the power of subpoena.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000) (Derivation: Former Administrative Code Section 16.545; added by Proposition G, 11/4/97)
Editor's note
*The Ethics Commission's authority to adopt rules and regulations was previously codified as Charter Section 3.699-9. Under Proposition E, adopted by the San Francisco voters on November 7, 1995, Charter Section 3.699-9 was recodified as Charter Section 15.102. Accordingly, references to Section 3.699-9 have been changed to Section 15.102.