KRS § 121.120 — KY Code / Title X / Chapter 121 / Section 121.120
121.120 Duties and powers of registry -- Appointment of certain employees -- Electronic reporting system -- Mandatory electronic reporting of campaign finance reports
Status: in_force

121.120 Duties and powers of registry -- Appointment of certain employees --

Electronic reporting system -- Mandatory electronic reporting of

campaign finance reports.

(1) The registry may:

(a) Require by special or general orders, any person to submit, under oath,

any written reports and answers to questions as the registry may

prescribe;

(b) Administer oaths or affirmations;

(c) Require by subpoena, signed by the chair, the attendance and testimony

of witnesses and the production of all documentary evidence, excluding

individual and business income tax records, relating to the execution of its

duties;

(d) In any proceeding or investigation, to order testimony to be taken by

deposition before any person who is designated by the registry and has

the power to administer oaths and, in those instances, to compel

testimony and the production of evidence in the same manner as

authorized under paragraph (c) of this subsection;

(e) Initiate, through civil actions for injunctive, declaratory, or other

appropriate relief, defend, or appeal any civil action in the name of the

registry to enforce the provisions of this chapter through its legal counsel;

(f) Render advisory opinions under KRS 121.135;

(g) Promulgate administrative regulations necessary to carry out the

provisions of this chapter;

(h) Conduct investigations and hearings expeditiously, to encourage

voluntary compliance, and report apparent campaign finance law

violations to the appropriate law enforcement authorities;

(i) Petition any court of competent jurisdiction to issue an order requiring

compliance with an order or subpoena issued by the registry. Any failure

to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as contempt;

and

(j) Conduct random audits of receipts and expenditures of committees which

have filed registration papers with the registry pursuant to KRS 121.170.

(2) No person shall be subject to civil liability to any person other than the registry

or the Commonwealth for disclosing information at the request of the registry.

(3) The registry may appoint a full-time executive director, legal counsel, and an

accountant for auditing purposes, all of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the

registry. The registry may also appoint such other employees as are necessary

to carry out the purposes of this chapter. All requests for personnel

appointments shall be forwarded by the registry directly to the secretary of the

Personnel Cabinet and shall be subject to the secretary's review and

certification only.

(4) The registry shall adopt official forms and perform other duties necessary to

implement the provisions of this chapter. The registry shall not require the

listing of a person's Social Security number on any form developed by the

registry. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the registry shall:

(a) Develop prescribed forms for the making of the required reports;

(b) Prepare and publish a manual for all candidates, slates of candidates,

contributing organizations, and committees, describing the requirements

of the law, including uniform methods of bookkeeping and reporting,

requirements as to reporting dates, and the length of time that candidates,

slates of candidates, contributing organizations, and committees are

required to keep any records pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;

(c) Develop a filing, coding, and cross-indexing system;

(d) Make each report filed available for public inspection and copying during

regular office hours at the expense of any person requesting copies of

them;

(e) Preserve all reports for at least six (6) years from the date of receipt. Duly

certified reports shall be admissible as evidence in any court in the

Commonwealth;

(f) Prepare and make available for public inspection a summary of all reports

grouped according to candidates, slates of candidates, committees,

contributing organizations, and parties containing the total receipts and

expenditures; and

1. For each contribution made by a permanent committee of any

amount to a candidate or slate of candidates, the date, name, and

business address of the permanent committee, the amount

contributed, and a description of the major business, social, or

political interest represented by the permanent committee; and

2. For each contribution in excess of one hundred dollars ($100) made

to any candidate or campaign committee, the date, name, address,

occupation, and employer of each other contributor or, if the

contributor is self-employed, the name under which the contributor is

doing business, and the amount contributed by each contributor,

listed alphabetically;

(g) Prepare and publish an annual report with cumulative compilations

named in paragraph (f) of this subsection;

(h) Distribute upon request, for a nominal fee, copies of all summaries and

reports;

(i) Determine whether the required reports have been filed and if so,

whether they conform with the requirements of this chapter; give notice to

delinquents to correct or explain defections; issue an order, if appropriate,

as provided in KRS 121.140; and make public the fact that a violation has

occurred and the nature thereof;

(j) Conduct random audits of receipts and expenditures of candidates

running for city, county, urban-county government, charter county

government, consolidated local government, unified local government,

and district offices. When the registry audits the records of any selected

candidate, it shall also audit the records of all other candidates running for

the same office in the selected city, county, urban-county government,

charter county government, consolidated local government, unified local

government, or district office;

(k) Conduct audits of receipts and expenditures of all candidates or slates of

candidates running for statewide office;

(l) Require that candidates and slates of candidates shall maintain their

records for a period of six (6) years from the date of the regular election in

their respective political races;

(m) Initiate investigations and make investigations with respect to reports

upon complaint by any person and initiate proceedings on its own motion;

and

(n) Forward to the Attorney General or the appropriate Commonwealth's or

county attorney any violations of this chapter which may become the

subject of civil or criminal prosecution.

(5) All policy and enforcement decisions concerning the regulation of campaign

finance shall be the ultimate responsibility of the registry. No appointed or

elected state officeholder or any other person shall, directly or indirectly,

attempt to secure or create privileges, exemptions, or advantages for himself,

herself, or others in derogation of the public interest at large in a manner that

seeks to leave any registry member or employee charged with the enforcement

of the campaign finance laws no alternative but to comply with the wishes of

the officeholder or person. Registry members and employees shall be free of

obligation or the appearance of obligation to any interest other than the fair and

efficient enforcement of the campaign finance laws and administrative

regulations. It shall not be considered a violation of this subsection for an

officeholder or other person to seek remedies in a court of law to any policy or

enforcement decision he or she considers to be an abridgement of his or her

legal rights.

(6) If adequate and appropriate agency funds are available, the registry shall:

(a) Develop or acquire a system for electronic reporting for use by individuals

and entities required to file campaign finance reports with the registry

under this chapter. The registry shall promulgate administrative

regulations under KRS Chapter 13A which provide for a nonproprietary

standardized format or formats, using industry standards, for the

transmission of data required under this chapter;

(b) Accept test files from software vendors and persons wishing to file reports

electronically for the purpose of determining whether the file format

complies with the nonproprietary standardized format developed under

paragraph (a) of this subsection and is compatible with the registry's

system for receiving the data;

(c) Make all reports filed with the registry pertaining to candidates for the

General Assembly and statewide office available on the Internet free of

charge, in an easily understood format that allows the public to browse,

search, and download the data contained in the reports by each of the

reporting categories required by this chapter, including but not limited to:

1. The name of each candidate or committee;

2. The office sought by each candidate;

3. The name of each contributor;

4. The address of each contributor;

5. The employer or business occupation of each contributor, or if the

contributor is a permanent committee, a description of the major

business, social, or political interest represented by the permanent

committee;

6. The date of each contribution; and

7. The amount of each contribution;

(d) Make all data specified in paragraph (c) of this subsection available on

the Internet no later than ten (10) business days after its receipt by the

registry. If a contribution or expenditure report is filed late with the

registry, that data shall be made available on the Internet within

twenty-four (24) hours of the registry's receipt of the data;

(e) Make filer-side software available free of charge to all individuals or

entities subject to the reporting requirements of this chapter;

(f) Establish a training program on the electronic reporting program and

make it available free of charge to all individuals and entities subject to

the reporting requirements of this chapter;

(g) Maintain all campaign finance data pertaining to legislative and statewide

candidates on-line for twenty (20) years after the date the report

containing the data is filed, and then archive the data in a secure format;

(h) Require candidates and slates of candidates running for statewide office,

and campaign committees of candidates and slates of candidates

registered to run for statewide office, beginning with elections scheduled

in 2015, to electronically report all campaign finance reports that must be

submitted to the registry under this chapter. If any statewide candidate,

slate of candidates, or campaign committee of a statewide candidate or

slate of candidates submits a campaign finance report in a nonelectronic

format for an election scheduled in 2015 or later, the registry shall require

the statewide candidate, slate of candidates, or campaign committee of

the statewide candidate or slate of candidates to resubmit the campaign

finance report in an electronic format;

(i) Require all candidates, slates of candidates, committees, and contributing

organizations, beginning with the primary scheduled in 2020, and for each

subsequent election scheduled thereafter, to electronically report all

campaign finance reports required to be submitted to the registry under

this chapter. If any candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or

contributing organization submits a campaign finance report to the

registry in a nonelectronic format for an election or calendar period

beginning in 2020 or later, the registry shall require the candidate, slate of

candidates, committee, or contributing organization to resubmit the

campaign finance report in an electronic format. If any candidate, slate of

candidates, committee, or contributing organization does not submit the

required campaign finance reports electronically by the applicable filing

deadline, the registry shall publish the candidate, slate of candidates,

committee, or contributing organization's name as a delinquent filer until

such time as the campaign finance report is properly filed in an electronic

format; and

(j) Require all independent expenditure reports to be submitted electronically

within forty-eight (48) hours of the date that the communication is publicly

distributed or otherwise publicly disseminated, beginning with the primary

scheduled in 2020, and for each subsequent election scheduled

thereafter.

(7) In conjunction with the program of electronic reporting set out in subsection (6)

of this section, the registry shall deem an electronic report to be filed when

submitted by either of the following methods:

(a) Online Internet transmission; or

(b) Hand delivery of the electronic report, saved on a current and compatible

computer component, and downloaded at the registry.