The LaPorte County Election Board on June 13 accepted amended campaign finance reports and related documentation, voted to levy civil penalties for defective filings and approved a plan to obtain bank records — while pausing a subpoena to allow voluntary submission first.

Board members reviewed evidence and amended filings from multiple committees and candidates. In the Hollerfield matter the board found that additional amended reports filed March 28, 2025, and an annual amendment filed the day of the hearing addressed earlier defects; the board also reviewed invoices and correspondence tying Midwest Communications Group LLC and an individual named David Legros to mailer/printing work and a March 2025 payment. After discussion, the board voted to accept the amended filings and the vendor documentation presented at the meeting.

On fines for defective reports, the board discussed prior orders entered in 2024 and 2025 and the statutory limits under Indiana campaign finance law. For a 2024 pre-election filing that had been defective, the board imposed the statutory penalty of $100 (the maximum per-report civil penalty cited by board counsel for that report). The board also levied an additional $100 fine for a separate defective filing discussed at the hearing, consistent with the code provision referenced in the meeting.

A significant portion of the hearing focused on a candidate committee’s reporting that originally showed large unitemized or anonymous contributions. Candidate Banks testified that much of the disputed amount came from cash placed in a fundraiser donation box and that she amended reports after reviewing bank records, reducing the previously reported total from approximately $16,774 to about $11,624 in itemized and unitemized entries. Board members expressed concern about the volume of anonymous contributions and whether the committee’s records adequately support the amended totals.

Given those concerns, a motion to subpoena bank records for April through October 2024 to reconcile deposits and contributions passed. The board then voted to stay execution of that subpoena for 30 days, directing staff to request deposit slips and front/back copies of checks and other bank records and giving the committees an opportunity to provide the requested materials voluntarily. The board asked staff to prepare an order reflecting the stay and associated deadlines.

The board also noted that a previously referred matter involving the Democratic Civic Club remains under investigation by the LaPorte County Prosecutor’s Office and the state police; members said they had received limited documentation and would seek additional records from the club’s president.

The board’s actions were procedural: accepting amended filings, assessing statutory fines for defective reports, and using its subpoena authority as a backstop while allowing voluntary cooperation first. The board did not make criminal findings; it stated that further referral to prosecutors or law enforcement would depend on what the records show when reconciled.

What’s next: the board stayed the subpoena for 30 days pending voluntary production of bank records and deposit slips; if the requested records are not provided within the deadline the board indicated it will proceed with the subpoena and reconvene to consider next steps.