- Louisville Metro Councilwoman Donna Purvis agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for campaign finance violations.
- Former legislative assistant Denise Bentley filed additional complaints alleging ongoing campaign finance violations by Purvis.
Louisville Metro Councilwoman Donna Purvis agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for campaign finance violations through a conciliation agreement with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance that was approved Thursday.
She originally faced approximately $20,000 in fines and paid the lower amount in November, according to a KREF report. The $10,000 payment appears to have come out of her 2022 primary election funds, according to a publicly available campaign expenditure report filed Wednesday — more than two months after it was due.
According to KREF, Purvis failed to report all the campaign contributions she received, did not disclose the personal funds she used for her campaign and did not deposit contributions into a bank specifically for her campaign during the 2022 primary and general elections. Other alleged violations were dismissed.
The counsel who investigated the complaint found “no reason to believe the violations were made knowingly,” the agreement reads. However, Purvis’s former legislative assistant, Denise Bentley, said the councilwoman continues to violate campaign finance regulations and filed additional complaints against her last week.
Purvis, a Democrat representing much of west Louisville, especially drew ire from community advocates for not filing her campaign finance reports in 2022, when she won by only 35 votes.
“It’s unacceptable to be two to three years late, especially after you’ve come off of a highly contested campaign,” said Bentley, who made the original and new campaign finance violation allegations against her.
Purvis’s legal counsel argued she found the filing system confusing and sought help to file her reports.
In a recent Courier Journal interview, Metro Council President Brent Ackerson called the finance violations a “mistake” and said it “wasn’t intentional.” However, Bentley said she urged Purvis to take KREF training and “understand the process.”
Bentley has an ongoing legal battle with Purvis. And on Wednesday — the day before KREF approved the conciliation agreement — Bentley filed three additional campaign finance violation complaints against the councilwoman. Bentley alleges Purvis has not filed her annual report and that donations were made to her that had not been made public.
Purvis did not respond to a request for comment from The Courier Journal.
The campaign finance violations are one of several legal and ethical controversies the councilwoman has faced since assuming office in early 2019. An ethics complaint against her is currently being reviewed, and a constituent recently filed a police report against her, accusing her of harassment.
Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at [email protected] or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.
发表回复