SEC. 2.145. ADMINISTRATIVE AND CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES.
§ 2.145
The Ethics Commission and City Attorney enforce San Francisco's lobbying disclosure requirements through late filing fees, warning letters, administrative proceedings, civil penalties, document inspection, and potential revocation of lobbyist registration; clients and employers may share liability for violations by their lobbyists.
If a lobbyist doesn't file required information on time, they face a $50-per-day late fee until they submit it, though the Ethics Commission director can reduce or waive the fee if the delay wasn't intentional. Anyone who violates the lobbying rules—including giving incomplete information or breaking gift limits—can be sued by the City Attorney for up to $5,000 per violation or three times the unreported amount, whichever is larger. The Ethics Commission can also hold hearings and issue warning letters. Both the client who hires a lobbyist and the lobbyist can be held responsible for violations. The City Attorney can revoke a lobbyist's registration for up to a year if they knowingly break these rules.
- Complex:Subsection (a) contains multiple embedded procedural requirements (notice periods, calendar requests, Executive Director notifications) that interact in ways requiring careful reading to fully understand the reduction/waiver process.
- Controversial:Civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation and potential year-long registration revocation are enforcement mechanisms that some might view as strict and others as insufficient deterrent to lobbying misconduct.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) If any lobbyist fails to submit any information required by this Chapter after any applicable deadline, the Ethics Commission shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies established in this Chapter, impose a late filing fee of $50 per day after the deadline until the information is received by the Ethics Commission. The Executive Director of the Ethics Commission may reduce or waive a late filing fee if the Executive Director determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement will not further the purposes of this Chapter. If such reduction or waiver equals or exceeds $500, the Executive Director shall notify the Commission of his or her determination. Thereafter, any two or more members of the Commission may cause the reduction or waiver to be calendared for consideration by the full Commission in open session at the next Commission meeting occurring no sooner than ten days from the date the Executive Director informs the Commission of the Executive Director’s recommendation. A Commissioner’s request that a reduction or waiver be calendared must be received by the Executive Director no fewer than five days prior to the date of the meeting, so that the Executive Director may comply with the applicable notice and agenda requirements. 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 violates this Chapter, including but not limited to, by providing inaccurate or incomplete information regarding lobbying activities, may be liable in an administrative proceeding before the Ethics Commission pursuant to Charter Section C3.699-13. In addition to the administrative penalties set forth in the Charter, the Ethics Commission may issue warning letters regarding potential violations of this Chapter both to the lobbyist and the person who pays or employs the lobbyist.
(c) Any person or entity which knowingly or negligently violates this Chapter 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, or three times the amount given or received in excess of the gift limit, whichever is greater.
(d) In investigating any alleged violation of this Chapter the Ethics Commission and City Attorney shall have the power to inspect all documents required to be maintained under this Chapter. 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.
(e) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.
(1) Should two or more persons be responsible for any violation under this Chapter, they may be jointly and severally liable.
(2) The client or employer of a lobbyist shall be jointly and severally liable for all violations of this Chapter committed by the lobbyist in connection with acts or omissions undertaken on behalf of that client or employer.
(3) If a business, firm or organization registers or files lobbyist disclosures on behalf of its employees pursuant to Section 2.110(d), the business, firm or organization may be held jointly and severally liable for any failure to disclose its employees’ lobbying activities.
(f) The City Attorney may also bring an action to revoke for up to one year the registration of any lobbyist who has knowingly violated this Chapter.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Ord. 129-03, File No. 030250, App. 5/30/2003; Ord. 235-09, File No. 090833, App. 11/10/2009; Ord. 98-14 , File No. 130374, App. 6/26/2014, Eff. 7/26/2014; re-enacted and amended by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)