Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 12, March 22, 2024
The Enforcement Division of the Commission receives
complaints and referrals from a variety of sources and pursues matters
proactively.
(a) Requirements for
filing a complaint or referral.
(1) A
complaint or referral must:
(A) Be filed with
the Enforcement Division via the Electronic Complaint System available on the
Commission's website.
(B) Identify
the person(s) who allegedly violated the Act (if known) and the specific
provision(s) of the Act allegedly violated.
(C) Describe with as much particularity as
possible the facts constituting each alleged violation.
(D) State the facts that support the
complainant's belief that a person has violated the Act and include any
documents or other evidence supporting this conclusion.
(E) Include or describe with as much
particularity as possible evidence or means of obtaining evidence in support of
the complaint.
(F) Include the name
and current contact information of any potential witness (if
known).
(2) A sworn
complaint must be electronically signed and submitted under penalty of
perjury.
(3) A referral must
include:
(A) Current contact information for
the person or entity referred.
(B)
Current contact information for the agency with which the person or entity
files.
(C) Information regarding
any attempt the referring entity made to obtain compliance, including copies of
at least two written notices and the email address, mailing address, or
telephone number at which the referred person or entity was contacted. Attempts
to contact a referred person who has left office or is no longer at an agency
should be made to a personal email address, home mailing address, or personal
telephone number known by the filing officer if the filer cannot be contacted
through an agency email address, telephone number, or mailing
address.
(D) For campaign non-filer
referrals, also include:
(i) A copy of the
most recently filed campaign statement, if any, including all relevant
schedules.
(ii) Committee name and
identification number and, in the case of a candidate-controlled committee, the
candidate's name.
(iii) Office
sought or held, if applicable.
(iv)
The name of the committee's treasurer.
(v) Current contact information for the
committee, candidate if applicable, and the committee's treasurer.
(vi) Filing methods available to the filer at
their agency, such as paper or electronic filing.
(E) For statement of economic interests
non-filer referrals, also include:
(i) A copy
of the most recently filed statement of economic interest, if any.
(ii) A copy of the agency's conflict of
interest code in the case of Section
87300 filers.
(iii) Any personal contact information for
the filer such as a personal email address, home mailing address, or personal
telephone number in the possession of the filing officer if the filer has left
office or is no longer employed by the agency and can no longer be contacted
through an agency email address, telephone number, or mailing address. If the
filing officer does not have any personal contact information for the filer,
the filing officer shall make best efforts to obtain personal contact
information for the filer, including requesting the information from the
filer.
(iv) Indication of whether
the filer is still in office or employed by the agency. If the filer is on
leave, also provide that information along with expected return date, if
known.
(4)
Before making a referral to the Enforcement Division, the filing officer shall
attempt to contact the filer by telephone at least once.
(5) If a filing officer subsequently receives
a filing from a referred candidate, committee, or statement of economic
interests filer, the filing officer must notify the Enforcement Division within
7 days of receipt of the filing.
(b) Procedural rights for a sworn complaint.
The following procedures only apply to a sworn complaint filed under penalty of
perjury:
(1) Notice. Within three business
days of receipt of a sworn complaint, the Enforcement Division will provide
each person who the complaint alleges violated the Act a copy of the complaint
and notice that the person may respond to the complaint. This is not required
if the complaint is rejected within the three-day period. The Enforcement
Division may withhold notice of a complaint or the identity of the complainant
if the Enforcement Division Chief determines that disclosing the information
would jeopardize the investigation, or if the complaint is rejected within the
three business days.
(2) Notice to
complainant of intended action. Within 14 calendar days of receiving a sworn
complaint, the Enforcement Division will notify the complainant in writing that
it will do one or more of the following in response to the complaint: open a
case, refer the matter to another agency, take no action, take additional time
to make a determination, or take any action the Enforcement Chief deems
appropriate. Subsequent notice will be provided if more time is
required.
(3) Reconsideration of
intended action. If the person who filed the sworn complaint disagrees with the
Enforcement Division's intended action, other than needing additional time to
consider, the person may submit in writing, within 20 calendar days of receipt
of the response, a request for reconsideration to the Executive Director of the
Commission. The Executive Director may deny the request, or based on good
cause, direct the Enforcement Division Chief to take specified action
consistent with the Act and its regulations. The Executive Director will
provide the complainant written notice of the decision within 20 calendar days
of receipt of the request. However, if the complainant provides new information
or allegations in the request for reconsideration, this will be considered a
new complaint and not a request for reconsideration.
(4) Notice to subjects of a sworn complaint.
The Enforcement Division will send a copy of the notice of intended action to
any person the complaint at issue alleges violated the Act at the same time it
is sent to the complainant, unless the Enforcement Division Chief determines
that providing the person with notice of the complaint would jeopardize the
investigation.
(5) Notice of
resolution. The Enforcement Division will send a notice of resolution to each
complainant who filed a sworn complaint with the Commission and was notified
that the Enforcement Division would investigate the allegations in the
complaint.
(c) Commission
initiated case. All matters that do not result from a sworn complaint,
including proactive investigations, referrals, nonsworn and anonymous
complaints, are opened on the Commission's initiative under Section
83115. The Enforcement Division
will determine whether to open Commission initiated investigations.
(1) Notice of Commission initiated case. The
Enforcement Division will send notice, as well as a copy of any document
submitted to the Enforcement Division, to any identified subjects of a
Commission initiated case when opening a case based upon that
information.
(2) The Enforcement
Division may withhold any document, the identity of any person providing
information, or the notice and existence of a matter if the Enforcement
Division Chief determines disclosing the information would jeopardize the case,
or if the information is privileged, private or confidential.
(3) No notice is required to be sent to the
provider of the information regarding whether a case has been opened or its
resolution. For filing officer referrals, the Enforcement Division may notify
the filing officer regarding the outcome of the referral.
(d) Public Information. The Commission will
post on its website and respond to requests from the public for records and
information about all Enforcement matters as follows:
(1) When the Commission receives a complaint
or referral alleging a person violated the Act, or if a case is opened on the
Commission's own initiative, the Commission may provide the following
information and records two days after sending via email notice of the alleged
violation to the person alleged to have violated the Act or five days after
sending such notice via physical mail:
(A)
Confirmation of receiving a complaint or referral;
(B) Copies of the respective complaint,
referral, information, notification, or letter of inquiry;
(C) Copies of any document received from a
complainant or referring agency; and
(D) Copies of any documents reviewed by the
Enforcement Division in making a determination to open a
case.
(2) The Commission
may disclose the action the Enforcement Division intends to take on a complaint
or referral two days after providing notice of the intended action to the sworn
complainant via email or five days after providing notice via physical mail.
However, if the Enforcement Division intends to take no action, the Commission
may disclose that fact immediately.
(3) The Commission may disclose the
scheduling or result of any step in an administrative action.
(4) The Commission may not comment on
specific facts or provide analysis relating to an Enforcement matter when
responding to requests for information regarding a pending Enforcement matter.
The Commission may provide general information regarding the provisions of the
Act and Section
1090 without analyzing the
potential application of those provisions to the facts of a specific
Enforcement matter.
(5) The
Commission may withhold any document, the identity of any person providing
information, or the existence of a complaint or case if the Enforcement
Division Chief determines that disclosing the information would jeopardize the
matter, or the information is privileged, private or
confidential.
(e)
Complaints Rejected without Notice to Respondents. Duplicate complaints or
referrals submitted by the same complainant or filing officer may be rejected
without notice. A nonsworn or anonymous complaint that the Chief of Enforcement
determines fails to allege facts that could result in a violation of the Act
may be rejected without notice. A complaint or referral rejected pursuant to
this subdivision will not be posted on the Commission website.
1. New section
filed 10-9-75 as an emergency; effective upon filing. Certificate of Compliance
included (Register 75, No. 41).
2. Amendment filed 5-22-78;
effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 78, No. 21).
3.
Amendment of subsection (g) filed 11-2-78; effective thirtieth day thereafter
(Register 78, No. 44).
4. Amendment of section heading filed
10-29-81; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 81, No.
44).
5. Editorial correction of subsection (f) filed 10-29-82
(Register 82, No. 44).
6. Amendment of subsection (g) filed
9-24-2007; operative 10-24-2007. Submitted to OAL for filing pursuant to Fair
Political Practices Commission v. Office of Administrative Law, 3 Civil
C010924, California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, nonpublished
decision, April 27, 1992 (FPPC regulations only subject to 1974 Administrative
Procedure Act rulemaking requirements and not subject to procedural or
substantive review by OAL) (Register 2007, No. 39).
7. Amendment
filed 6-11-2008; operative 6-11-2008. Submitted to OAL for filing pursuant to
Fair Political Practices Commission v. Office of Administrative Law, 3 Civil
C010924, California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, nonpublished
decision, April 27, 1992 (FPPC regulations only subject to 1974 Administrative
Procedure Act rulemaking requirements) (Register 2008, No. 24).
8.
New subsection (f)(2), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated
subsections (f)(3)-(4) filed 7-6-2011; operative 8-5-2011. Submitted to OAL for
filing pursuant to Fair Political Practices Commission v. Office of
Administrative Law, 3 Civil C010924, California Court of Appeal, Third
Appellate District, nonpublished decision, April 27, 1992 (FPPC regulations
only subject to 1974 Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking requirements and
not subject to procedural or substantive review by OAL) (Register 2011, No.
27).
9. Amendment of subsections (f)(1), (f)(1)(E), (f)(3)-(4) and
(h) filed 12-7-2011; operative 1-6-2012. Submitted to OAL for filing pursuant
to Fair Political Practices Commission v. Office of Administrative Law, 3 Civil
C010924, California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, nonpublished
decision, April 27, 1992 (FPPC regulations only subject to 1974 Administrative
Procedure Act rulemaking requirements and not subject to procedural or
substantive review by OAL) (Register 2011, No. 49).
10. Repealer and
new section heading and section filed 12-15-2015; operative 1-14-2016.
Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Fair Political
Practices Commission v. Office of Administrative Law, 3 Civil C010924,
California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, nonpublished decision,
April 27, 1992 (FPPC regulations only subject to 1974 Administrative Procedure
Act rulemaking requirements and not subject to procedural or substantive review
by OAL) (Register 2015, No. 51).
11. Repealer and new section filed
11-16-2020; operative 1-1-2021 pursuant to Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, section
18312(e).
Submitted to OAL for filing pursuant to Fair Political Practices Commission v.
Office of Administrative Law, 3 Civil C010924, California Court of Appeal,
Third Appellate District, nonpublished decision, April 27, 1992 (FPPC
regulations only subject to 1974 Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking
requirements and not subject to procedural or substantive review by OAL)
(Register 2020, No. 47).
12. Amendment of subsection (a)(3)(C), new
subsections (a)(3)(D)-(a)(5), amendment of subsection (d), repealer of
subsections (d)(1)-(2), new subsections (d)(1)-(d)(4), subsection renumbering
and amendment of newly designated subsection (d)(5) filed 8-22-2022; operative
9-21-2022 pursuant to Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, section
18312(e).
Submitted to OAL for filing pursuant to Fair Political Practices Commission v.
Office of Administrative Law, 3 Civil C010924, California Court of Appeal,
Third Appellate District, nonpublished decision, April 27, 1992 (FPPC
regulations only subject to 1974 Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking
requirements and not subject to procedural or substantive review by OAL)
(Register 2022, No. 34).
Note: Authority cited: Section
83112,
Government Code. Reference: Section
83115,
Government Code.
