Assigned to JUDE AS PASSED BY COW
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2667
campaign finance complaints; resolution
Purpose
Deems a campaign finance violation complaint dismissed if the complaint is not resolved
or ruled on by the filing officer within 180 days and the deadline for resolving or ruling is not
extended.
Background
A filing officer is the sole public officer authorized to initiate an investigation into alleged
violations of campaign contributions and expenses law. A filing officer must limit investigation to
violations that are within the officer's jurisdiction. The Secretary of State (SOS) must publish
guidelines in the Election Procedures Manual (EPM) that outline procedures and processes that
apply to investigations by all filing officers. Filing officer means the SOS or the county, city or
town officer in charge of elections for that jurisdiction who accepts statements and reports for
those elections (A.R.S. §§ 16-901 and 16-938).
A filing officer must review a complaint for compliance with required criteria outlined in
the EPM. If the criteria are not met, the filing officer should notify the complainant of the
deficiencies and that no action will be taken on the complaint. A filling officer may dismiss a
matter that does not merit further use of government resources including: 1) if the matter is not
within the filing officer's jurisdiction; 2) if there is a small dollar amount at issue; 3) the
insignificance of the alleged violation; and 4) the vagueness or weakness of the evidence. If the
alleged violator takes corrective action within 20 days after the date of issuance of the notice of
violation by the enforcement officer, the alleged violator is not subject to any penalty (A.R.S.
§ 16-938; EPM Ch. 14 (II) (C)).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.
Provisions
1. Deems a campaign finance violation complaint dismissed if the complaint is not resolved or
ruled on by the filing officer within 180 days of the date the complaint is filed, and the deadline
for resolving or ruling on the complaint is not extended by the filing officer.
2. Becomes effective on the general effective date. FACT SHEET – Amended
H.B. 2667
Page 2
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
1. Specifies that the filing officer is the person who must resolve, extend or rule on a campaign
finance violation complaint within the prescribed timeframe.
2. Makes technical changes.
House Action
FMAE 2/19/25 DP 7-0-0-0 JUDE 3/19/25 DP 5-2-0
3
rd
Read 3/3/25 57-0-3
Prepared by Senate Research
April 17, 2025
ZD/AW/ci