December 17, 2024
The Public Disclosure Commission imposed a total of $14,000 in fines in 2024 to eight officials who have repeatedly failed to file their personal financial disclosure statements, or F-1 reports.
Most elected and some appointed officials in Washington are required to file the personal financial affairs statement covering the previous calendar year. The reports are due annually by April 15. Candidates also submit F-1s at the start of their campaigns.
The F-1 report discloses an officials’ sources of income, real estate, investments and business ownership of the filer and their immediate family. The requirement dates to the 1972 citizen initiative that created the PDC.
In levying fines, the Commission often suspends a portion of the fine on conditions that all missing reports are filed and payments received within 30 days of their order.
The Commission takes seriously cases of officials repeatedly failing to comply with campaign finance laws, increasing fines in step with each subsequent violation. Penalties are highest for those F-1 filers who do not come back into compliance by filing their overdue reports.
"This report has been an integral part of our political disclosure laws in Washington state for more than 50 years, revealing a candidate or official’s potential conflicts of interest,” Commission Chair Allen Hayward said. "Failing to submit it deprives voters of vital information guaranteed to them under the law.”
At the Commission’s regular meeting Thursday, Dec. 12, the Commission found violations in the case of two officials who have repeatedly failed to file their F-1 reports.
Robert Pruneda, a Parks and Recreation Commission member in Adams County, was found in violation and fined $2,000 with $1,000 suspended on the condition that all fines are paid and missing reports are filed, for failing to file his F-1 by April 15, 2024. Pruneda has two prior violations for not filing F-1 reports after filing to run for election in 2021 and after he was elected, for calendar year 2021.
Dariel L. Norris, a King County Hospital District 4 commissioner, was also found in violation and fined $1,000 with $900 suspended for failing to file her F-1 by April 15, 2024. Norris has one previous violation for not filing the F-1 for calendar year 2022.
Other officials/candidates fined in 2024 for repeat failures to file F-1s:
- Ben Callies – Mossyrock School District – $2,000
- Jean Dillenburg – Grant County Hospital District 4 commissioner – $2,000
- Nicholas Henderson – Kittitas County Coroner – $1,000
- Sativah Adriana Jones - State board member for The Student Achievement Council – $2,000
- Dustin Kraft – Clallam County Fire District 1 commissioner – 2,000
- Christopher Moore – Orting City Council – $2,000
In addition to the penalties levied against officials with multiple years of missing reports, the PDC also fined 55 other respondents missing only the 2024 report a total of $12,850 in penalties.