[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish planning commissioner fined for late campaign disclosure filings

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish planning commissioner fined for late campaign disclosure
filings
 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on November 20, 2012 at 6:30 PM, updated November 20, 2012 at 6:49 PM Print
A St. Bernard Parish Planning Commission member, who unsuccessfully ran for
an at-large Parish Council seat last year, has lost a state Board of Ethics
appeal of a ruling that he must pay a nearly $2,000 late filing fee. Earl
Dauterive, of Chalmette, a longtime member of the parish's Planning
Commission, has to pay $1,920 for failing to timely file campaign finance
disclosure reports required by the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act.

The decision comes after an Oct. 26 hearing in Baton Rouge before an Ethics
Adjudicatory Board. Dauterive, 55, who has served on the parish Planning and
Zoning Commission for 17 years, ran for the at-large west Parish Council
seat in the Oct. 22, 2011, election but lost to Councilman George Cavignac.
The two men were vying for the seat vacated by Frank Auderer.

Dauterive was supposed to file one report by Sept. 22, 2011, and another by
Oct. 12, 2011. On Sept. 28, 2011, the Board of Ethics sent him a notice of
delinquency via certified mail and a second notice on Oct. 18, 2011. The
notices informed Dauterive that the reports had not been received and that
he was subject to automatic late filing fees of $60 per day, according to
the Board of Ethics decision earlier this month.

On Oct. 18, 2011, Dauterive filed both reports. So, he filed the first
report 26 days late and the second, six days late.

The $1,920 due for both late reports was required on or before Feb. 17, but
Dauterive appealed the assessment. At the hearing, he admitted failing to
timely file both reports.

The state statue provides that any candidate who knowingly fails to timely
file required reports may be assessed a late filing fee for each day until
such report is filed. The Campaign Finance Disclosure Act does not define"
knowingly," but the U.S. Supreme Court has held that "knowingly" refers to
knowledge of the facts constituting the offense, as distinguished from
knowledge of the law, according to the board decisions.

The fine is due in early January, 2013.