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Commission approves slate of consent orders for late filings and disclosure errors; one case pulled for revision
Summary
The commission approved multiple consent orders resolving campaign finance and disclosure violations, imposing late fees and civil penalties that range from $125 to $5,000; staff pulled the Derek Mallow agreement for renegotiation and the commission approved the remaining consent orders in a single vote.
At the June 12 meeting, the Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission voted to accept numerous consent orders resolving campaign finance and disclosure violations; commissioners approved the package by a single vote after one commissioner asked to remove one item for separate consideration.
The orders cover candidates and entities that missed campaign contribution disclosure reports (CCDRs), personal financial disclosure statements (PFDS), and other technical reporting requirements. Staff described the cases and recommended penalties; commissioners discussed consistency across similar "insufficient detail" violations and directed staff to include more factual detail in future consent orders to clarify how penalties were determined.
Votes at a glance (approved as a group unless noted) - 24-0064-C, Clarence & Glenn Cook — insufficient detail on campaign expenditures; amended CCDR filed; penalty: $125 late fee (approved, paid). - 25-0023-C, Carlotta Harrell (Henry County Board of Commissioners chair) — failed to file Oct. 25 and Dec. 31, 2024 CCDRs; penalty: $250 late fees (approved). - 24-0102-C, John Redlinger — failed to file multiple CCDRs and PFDS; penalty: $1,000 total ($875 late fees + $125 civil penalty) (approved). - 25-0009-C, Colton Moore (state senator) — PFDS and CCDR failures; agreed late fees $3,375 and civil penalty $125; commission packet arithmetic was corrected to a $3,500 total penalty (approved). - 25-0011-C, Freddie Powell Sims (state senator) — two CCDRs and PFDS late; penalty: $375 total (approved). - 24-0108-C, Anna McCoy (city council) — failure to terminate a campaign account and a late PFDS; penalty: $750 paid in full (approved). - 24-0038-C, Georgia Whistleblower's PAC — failed to register as an independent committee; penalty: $250 paid (approved). - 25-0016-C, Therese Johnson Morgan (Gwinnett County Board of Education) — late PFDS filings for 2021 and 2023; penalty: $500 paid (approved). - 25-0018-C, April Stone (Gwinnett County Board of Education) — late 2023 PFDS; penalty: $250 paid (approved). - 25-0034-C, Marion Leon Jones (Macon-Bibb coroner) — multiple late PFDS and failure to terminate campaign account; penalty: $500 (approved). - 24-0119-C, Natalie Hall (former Fulton County commissioner) — multiple PFDS and CCDR violations; penalty: $5,000 total (commission noted and will correct a scrivener’s error in the order) (approved). - 25-0029-C, Chelsea Thompson (registered lobbyist) — three lobbyist disclosure misses (Jan. 15, Feb. 1, Feb. 15); penalty: $825 (approved).
Pulled for separate action - 25-0010-C, Derek Mallow — staff and a commissioner asked that one sentence in the proposed consent order be revised to avoid implying the commission’s website was incorrect; the order was pulled for renegotiation and re-signing.
Why this matters: The commission resolved a high volume of technical filing failures and used civil penalties and late fees to settle cases where filers cooperated and provided records. Commissioners emphasized the need for clearer factual statements in consent orders to ensure consistent penalty precedent.
What commissioners directed staff to do: Include more factual detail in consent orders that explain the difference in penalty amounts for similar-sounding violations; correct scrivener errors before signing; and return the Mallow consent order for renegotiation.
