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The Davidson County Chancery Court is being asked to order immediate payment of unpaid fines from former candidates who ran for office.
When running for office, Tennessee candidates are required to file statements of finance disclosures with the state in a timely manner. Failure to do so may result in the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Tennessee Ethics Commission levying fines of up to $10,000.
At the end of last week, the state began the process of recovering $33,350 in unpaid fines from five Tennessee candidates who campaigned between 2022 and 2024.
The candidates being sued are Patricia Hostetler, David Johnson, Jameson Lee Manor, Katrina Robinson, and John Turner.
Hostetler currently serves as alderwoman in the town of Finger, located in McNairy County. The action against her is due to not filing a 2024 disclosure statement addressing potential conflicts of interest leading to a civil penalty of $1,000.
Johnson, the Washington County Commissioner for District 2, also owes $1,000 for his failure to file a statement of disclosure of interests in 2024.
Manor, who ran for District 64 in the U.S. House during 2022 owes a $350 fine for failing to file an annual year-end supplemental campaign financial disclosure report in 2023.
Robinson ran for District 33 in the State Senate during 2022 and failed to file three financial disclosure statements resulting in a whopping $30,000 in fines.
Lastly, Turner campaigned for a place on the Jefferson County Road and Highway Commission and also did not file a statement of disclosure of interests in 2024. He owes the state $1,000.
The deadlines to appeal original administrative assessments has already passed which is why the state is asking the court to take action and order payment immediately in the five cases.
Candidates who do not file required statements can not qualify as a candidate in the future for any other elections until the reports have been filed properly. Historically, this has not been enough of a deterrent to get candidates to follow the law.
According to NewsChannel 5 Investigates, the state decided to write off nearly a million in unpaid fines from Tennessee candidates who had run for office over a span of 30 years.
Hundreds of former candidates owed the state money – more than $2.5 million – with some fines dating back to 1991.
In 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly amended state law to allow some fines to be declared “uncollectible” due to death of candidates or other reasons.
The change in the law allowed the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Attorney General’s Office to no longer pursue about $1 million in old fines and choose to focus on cases from 2017 and on, another $1.5 million.
Sources:
MSN.
WKRN.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
