NEWS

Sojourner could face fine, jail for not filing report

Geoff Pender
The Clarion-Ledger

After being fined $500 and having her legislative pay cut off, state Sen. Melanie Sojourner could face a $3,000 fine and jail time if she doesn't eventually file her 2013 campaign finance report.

A spokeswoman for Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said he has turned the issue over to the Attorney General's Office, as required by law.

Reports to disclose Legislators' campaign donors for 2013 were due Jan. 31. Sojourner is the only lawmaker, out of 174, who has not filed a report.

In May, Sojourner was fined $500, which she still has not paid, for failure to file the report. In July, the Department of Finance and Administration notified her legislative pay will be withheld until she files.

Sojourner, R-Natchez, campaign manager for U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel's campaign, could not be reached for comment Thursday. She has said previously that she was unable to file her report because of tornado damage to her home and records in September of 2013.

After she was fined and her pay halted, Sojourner filed for a waiver of penalties with Hosemann's office. But spokeswoman Pamela Weaver said the office cannot consider waiving penalties until the report is filed.

Mississippi Sen. Melanie Sojourner, R-Natchez

It's common for some lawmakers or other candidates to be late in filing campaign finance reports, but most usually file after the secretary of state publishes a list of those who are late and before fines kick in after 10 days.

"We've never had a case where someone was this late – not to my knowledge," Weaver said.

Sojourner's failure to file and pay her fine required Hosemann to turn the matter over to the AG. By law, the AG "shall file, where necessary, a suit to compel payment of the civil penalty."

Sojourner could eventually face criminal penalties for failure to file. State law says a candidate who "willfully and deliberately and substantially" violates the law requiring a report can be found guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine up to $3,000 and-or up to six months in jail.

Failure to file would also prevent her from running for election or re-election or being paid her salary for elected office.

Contact Geoff Pender at (601) 961-7266 or gpender@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @GeoffPender on Twitter.