(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of A.R.S. § 16-1021, on receipt of a complaint from a third party, the city clerk is the sole public officer who is authorized to initiate an investigation into alleged violations of this chapter, including the alleged failure to register as a committee. The city clerk shall limit an investigation to violations that are within the city clerk's jurisdiction.
(b) The secretary of state will establish guidelines in the instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-452 that outline the procedures, timelines and other processes that apply to investigations by all filing officers in this state. Until the secretary of state establishes such guidelines the city clerk shall promulgate necessary interim guidelines.
(c) If after providing the subject of an investigation a reasonable opportunity to respond, the city clerk has reasonable cause to believe a person violated this chapter, the city clerk shall refer the matter to the city attorney.
(d) Before a reasonable cause determination is made as prescribed in subsection (c) of this section, the city clerk, the city attorney and any other public officer or employee may not order a person to register as a committee and does not have audit or subpoena powers to compel the production of evidence or the attendance of witnesses concerning a potential campaign finance violation. The city clerk may request the voluntary production of evidence or attendance of witnesses in making a reasonable cause determination. Public funding candidates must also comply with the requirements of the campaign finance administration rules and regulations.
(e) Only after receiving a referral from the city clerk, the city attorney may:
(1) Conduct an investigation using the city attorney's subpoena powers, except that the city attorney shall not compel a person to file campaign finance reports unless the city attorney has determined that the person is a committee.
(2) Serve the alleged violator with a notice of violation. The notice shall state with reasonable particularity the nature of the violation, shall specify the fine or penalty imposed and shall require compliance within twenty (20) days after the date of issuance of the notice. The city attorney shall impose a presumptive civil penalty equal to the value of amount of money that has been received, spent or promised in violation of this chapter, except that after a finding of special circumstances, the city attorney may impose a penalty of up to three (3) times the amount of the presumptive civil penalty, based on the severity, extent or willful nature of the alleged violation. If the notice of violation requires a person to file campaign finance reports, the reports are not required to be filed until the city attorney's notice of violation has been upheld after any timely appeal.
(3) Keep any nonpublic information gathered by the city attorney in the course of the committee status investigation confidential until the final disposition of any appeal of the enforcement order.
(f) The city attorney has the sole and exclusive authority to initiate any applicable administrative or judicial proceedings to enforce an alleged violation of this article and of this chapter that have been referred by the city clerk.
(g) If the alleged violator:
(1) Takes corrective action within twenty (20) days after the date of the issuance of the notice of violation by the city attorney, the alleged violator is not subject to any penalty.
(2) Does not take corrective action within twenty (20) days after the date of issuance of the notice of violation by the city attorney, the city attorney shall impose the penalty set forth in the notice and shall provide formal notice that the imposition of the penalty is an appealable agency action pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 41-1092.03 and 41-1092.04.
(3) If due to the nature of the violation, no corrective action is possible, the city attorney shall issue an order of compliance and may impose a penalty of up to three (3) times the amount of the presumptive civil penalty, based on the severity, extent or willful nature of the alleged violation.
(h) Within thirty (30) days after receiving from the city attorney the notice of violation or an order of compliance with penalty under subsection (g)(3) of this section, the alleged violator may request a hearing pursuant to A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6, Article 10.
(i) After the conclusion of the administrative appeal process prescribed in A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6, Article 10, the alleged violator may appeal to the superior court pursuant to A.R.S. Title 12, Chapter 7, Article 6 for judicial review of the final administrative decision.
(Ord. No. 11525, § 2, 2-21-18)