2023 Wyoming Statutes › Title 22 - Elections › Chapter 25 - Campaign Practices › Section 22-25-108 - Failure of Persons to File Reports; Notice; Penalties; Reconsideration.

22-25-108. Failure of persons to file reports; notice; penalties; reconsideration.
(a) Any person required to file a report under W.S. 22-25-106 shall be given notice prior to an election, by the appropriate filing office specified under W.S. 22-25-107, that failure to file the report within the time required by that section shall subject the person to civil penalties as provided in subsection (f) of this section. The notice shall inform any candidate's campaign committee, organization, political party or political action committee that the officers responsible for filing the report shall be subject to the same civil penalties as the candidate's campaign committee, organization, political party or political action committee for failure to file the report.
(b) Any person who fails to file a report under W.S. 22-25-106 within the time required by that section shall have their name printed on a list drafted by the appropriate filing office. The filing office shall:
(i) Immediately post the list in the filing office and make the list available to the public;
(ii) Notify the person at their address of record that the person has twenty-one (21) days from the date the notice was sent to comply with W.S. 22-25-106 or be subject to civil penalties as provided in subsection (f) of this section.
(c) Repealed by Laws 2018, ch. 40, 2.
(d) Repealed by Laws 2018, ch. 40, 2.
(e) Repealed by Laws 2018, ch. 40, 2.
(f) The appropriate filing office or the county attorney, for reports required to be filed with the county clerk, shall issue a final order imposing the civil penalty specified in this subsection against any person failing to comply with W.S. 22-25-106 twenty-one (21) days from the date the notice was sent under subsection (b) of this section. The final order shall be sent to the person at their address of record and shall notify the person of the right to request reconsideration of the order as provided in subsection (h) of this section. The filing office or county attorney shall impose the following civil penalty in the final order after giving due consideration to the willfulness of the failure to file, the person's level of experience with reporting requirements under this act, efforts made to obscure the identity of the person required to file and any other factor evidencing an intent to evade reporting requirements under this act:
(i) Up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) per day beginning on the date of the final order and ending when the report is filed for a failure to file a report with the secretary of state;
(ii) Up to two hundred dollars ($200.00) per day beginning on the date of the final order and ending when the report is filed for a failure to file a report with the county clerk.
(g) Any candidate required to file a report under W.S. 22-25-106 who authorizes the candidate's campaign committee to file on their behalf as provided by W.S. 22-25-106(j) shall be jointly and severally liable with the candidate's campaign committee for any civil penalty imposed under this section.
(h) Any person may, within twenty (20) days of the date of a final order issued pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, request reconsideration of the order and submit documentation to the appropriate filing office or county attorney showing good cause for a failure to file a report. The filing office or county attorney may, after a decision finding good cause, waive any civil penalty imposed under this section provided that the person files the report within the time specified in the decision. A decision to not waive an imposed penalty by the secretary of state is subject to the contested case procedures of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act. A decision to not waive an imposed penalty by the county attorney is appealable to a circuit court of appropriate jurisdiction.
(j) A civil penalty imposed under this section shall be paid within thirty (30) days of the date of the final order issued pursuant to subsection (f) of this section or the date of a decision denying reconsideration by the appropriate filing office or county attorney, whichever is later. Any penalty not paid within the time required by this subsection is delinquent and shall bear interest at a rate of eighteen percent (18%) per annum until paid or collected, provided that no penalty is due and no interest shall accrue during any period in which the penalty is being reviewed by a court or during the pendency of a contested case proceeding. The filing office for the state shall notify the attorney general of a delinquent civil penalty.
(k) A delinquent civil penalty may be recovered in an action brought in the name of the state of Wyoming in any court of appropriate jurisdiction. In addition to any other remedy provided by law for the recovery of the penalty and any interest thereon, the county attorney or the attorney general, as appropriate, may recover any costs or damages relating to the recovery effort including attorney's fees. No filing fee shall be charged for the filing of an action under this subsection nor shall a fee be charged for service of process.
(m) Civil penalties and any interest thereon shall be paid to the clerk of court with jurisdiction over the matter for deposit to the public school fund of the county in which the fine was assessed. Any recovered costs or damages relating to the recovery effort shall be retained by the county or the state, as appropriate.