KRS 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 document ary 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 th e

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 appro priate

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 comp etent 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 appo int 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 t he 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, a nd 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 summa ry 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 contributio n in excess of two hundred dollars ($200) 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 summar ies 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 gove rnment, 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 candida tes 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 polic y 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 privil eges, 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 reg ulations. 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 in

accordance with 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 reg istry'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 br owse,

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 regis try. 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 al l 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 online 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 re ports 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 elect ion 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 al l 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 submit ted 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 no t 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 camp aign 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.