CEO 79-67 -- October 17, 1979

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

DISPOSITION BY SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS OF STATUTORILY REQUIRED DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS FILED BY CANDIDATES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE

To: Enid D. Earle, Lee County Supervisor of Elections, Fort Myers

Prepared by: Phil Claypool

SUMMARY:

It is the duty of a supervisor of elections to demand from a candidate as part of his qualifying papers a statement of financial interests. When a candidate is a nonincumbent and when he is unsuccessful in his bid for election, the supervisor's obligation simply is to accept and retain his disclosure statement along with, and in the same manner as, other qualification papers. Under s. 112.3145(2), F. S. 1977, however, a candidate who is an incumbent, who holds other public office or employment requiring financial disclosure, and who succeeds in his election bid so as to become a state or local officer appears to be required to file a statement of financial interests at least two different times and in at least two different places. Yet s. 112.3145(6) specifies that only one disclosure filing per year is required, "except that any public officer who qualifies as a candidate for public office shall file a copy of his disclosure with the officer before whom he qualifies as a candidate at the time he qualifies." Reading subsections (2) and (6) in conjunction, it is clear that it is the duty of the supervisor of elections to receive a disclosure statement or a copy of a current disclosure statement from each candidate; but the supervisor has no obligation under the law to forward that statement to any other office for the purpose of satisfying any other disclosure requirement.

QUESTION:

As a county supervisor of elections, what is my obligation relative to the disposition of financial disclosure documents, filed pursuant to s. 112.3145, F. S., received from candidates who qualify with my office?

The answer to your question lies in a concurrent reading of subsections (2) and (6) of the statutory financial disclosure law contained in s. 112.3145, F. S.

Section 112.3145 provides as follows:

(2)(a) A person seeking nomination or election to a state or local elective office shall file a statement of financial interests together with, and at the same time he files, his qualifying papers.

(b) Each state or local officer and each specified employee shall file a statement of financial interests no later than 12 o'clock noon of July 15 of each year, including the July 15th following the last year he is in office. Each state or local officer who is appointed and each specified employee who is employed shall file a statement of financial interests within 30 days from the date of appointment or, in the case of specified employees, from the date on which the employment begins, except that any person whose appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate shall file prior to confirmation hearings or within 30 days from the date of appointment, whichever comes first.

(c) State officers and specified employees shall file their statements of financial interests with the Secretary of State. Local officers shall file their statements of financial interests with the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the county in which they are principally employed or are residents. Persons seeking to qualify as candidates for public office shall file their statements of financial interests with the officer before whom they qualify.

It is clear under this provision that, when a candidate is a nonincumbent and when he is unsuccessful in his bid for election, your obligation simply is to accept and retain his disclosure statement along with and in the same manner as other qualification papers. Your question arises out of the fact that, under s. 112.3145(2), above, a candidate who is an incumbent, who holds other public office or employment requiring financial disclosure, and who succeeds in his election bid so as to become a state or local officer appears to be required to file a statement of financial interests at least two different times and in at least two different places. You, therefore, question whether you have any obligation to forward a successful candidate's disclosure documents, or copies thereof, to the clerk of the circuit court in order to fulfill the requirement that each local officer file disclosure with the clerk.

This question is answered in the negative based on a modification of the above general requirement, contained in s. 112.3145(6):

A public officer who has filed a disclosure for any calendar or fiscal year shall not be required to file a second disclosure for the same year or any part thereof, notwithstanding any requirement of this act, except that any public officer who qualifies as a candidate for public office shall file a copy of his disclosure with the officer before whom he qualifies as a candidate at the time he qualifies.

Reading subsections (2) and (6) in conjunction, it is clear that the Legislature intended that a person be required to complete a statement of financial interests no more than once annually. But it is equally clear that financial disclosure by candidates is a prerequisite for qualification and, therefore, that qualifying officers are to receive from each person seeking to qualify as a candidate either an original disclosure statement or a copy of a statement previously filed that year. Your obligation, as supervisor of elections, is to receive such disclosure statement from a person seeking to qualify; but you have no duty under the law to forward that disclosure statement or a copy of such statement to any other office, just as the person who filed disclosure with you as a candidate is not required to file again that year as a state or local officer, or specified employee, with the Secretary of State or clerk of the circuit court. Only if he again seeks to qualify as a candidate for elective office is he required to file a copy of the original disclosure statement.

Because the public generally expects all local officers to have filed disclosure with the clerk of the circuit court, we encourage successful candidates for local office to provide copies of their disclosure statements to the clerk following their election to office. While this is not required by law, it fulfills the law's spirit of accessibility of disclosure documents and aids in precluding the possibility of an officer's unjustly being accused of failing to file financial disclosure. Your cooperation in providing copies of disclosure forms for this purpose therefore is appreciated.