There was an election bill that had a part that was not on the Clerk’s Association’s Legislative Committee’s radar which will take effect on July 1st. Now, all currently elected officials, who receives $5000 or more in compensation per year must file annual campaign finance reporting for each year they hold office. I would advise to file a final report if they did not have any money left in their campaign account. Now, they must file a new CFA-1 form with the Clerk and complete the CFA-4 forms annually, even if they do not have a campaign account or have a zero balance. This language is in House Enrolled Act 1679, specifically the definition of “candidate “ in what is now IC 3– 5–2, which amends current law to clarify that the word has a distinct meaning for campaign finance law purposes which is different when the same word is used for other purposes throughout the remainder of the election code. Therefore, please inform elected officials if they have disbanded their committees that they must file a new CFA-1 along with the CFA-4 by the deadline. For elected officials not sure if they disbanded, they can search on the Election website, https://www.co.adams.in.us/373/Campaign-Finance-Reports. ). Failure to file a CFA-1 by the noon, July 11, 2025, deadline results in a $50 per calendar day fine, up to $1000.
If the elected official still has an open committee, they do not have nothing to do but file their annual report at the scheduled date.