HB213 Alabama 2020 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Andy WhittRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2020

Title

Campaign finance reports, electronic filing with Secretary of State required, Secs. 17-5-4, 17-5-5, 17-5-8, 17-5-9, 17-5-10, 17-5-11, 17-5-19.1, 17-5-19.2 am'd.

Summary

HB213 would require all campaign finance reports to be filed electronically with the Secretary of State, including municipal candidates, eliminating paper filings and probate-based submissions.

What This Bill Does

It makes electronic filing mandatory for all campaign finance reports and statements and shifts filing responsibility to the Secretary of State for all candidates, including municipal ones. It moves municipal campaign reporting away from judges of probate to the Secretary of State. It provides for public online access through a searchable database and maintains existing reporting timelines. It retains civil penalties for late or inaccurate filings, with a penalty schedule and an appeals process handled by the State Ethics Commission; penalties are allocated to state or county funds as specified, and amended filings without penalty are allowed under certain conditions.

Who It Affects

• Principal campaign committees and political action committees: must file all reports electronically with the Secretary of State and are subject to the civil penalty provisions for late or inaccurate filings.
• Municipal candidates and municipal campaigns: must file reports with the Secretary of State instead of the judge of probate.
• Secretary of State: becomes the centralized filing authority and maintains the public, searchable database of campaign finance reports.
• Judges of probate: will no longer receive municipal campaign finance reports and may have reduced role in these filings.
• General public and researchers: gain online access to campaign finance data via the Secretary of State's searchable database.
• State Ethics Commission: retains authority to levy penalties for inaccurate filings and to review penalties on appeal.

Key Provisions

• All campaign finance reports and statements must be filed electronically with the Secretary of State; paper or fax filings for these reports are eliminated.
• Municipal campaign reports must be filed with the Secretary of State, not the judge of probate, and the code is updated to reflect current styling.
• Electronic filings will be publicly accessible through a searchable database on the Secretary of State's website; reporting timelines and minimum thresholds for reporting remain, with electronic filing required.
• Civil penalties for late or inaccurate filings are defined (with a tiered schedule), enforceable by the appropriate filing official, and reviewable by the State Ethics Commission; penalties can be directed to state or county funds, and amended filings may avoid penalties under specified conditions.
• The act takes effect October 1, 2020.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Campaign Finances