Election officials still seeking late campaign finance report

Bartholomew County election officials are still attempting to collect all of last year’s annual campaign finance reports more than two months after the filing deadline.

Sean Burton, who ran for Columbus mayor as an independent candidate in the 2023 municipal election, was the lone candidate who has not filed his annual campaign finance report as of Monday morning, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office.

Candidates who have an open campaign finance committee are required to file an annual campaign finance reports even if they were not actively running for office that year. The 2024 annual reports were due Jan. 15 at noon.

In early March, the Bartholomew County Election Board issued $50 fines to Burton and Columbus City Council member Jerone Wood after they failed to file their reports and did not attend a board hearing.

Wood has since paid the fine and filed his campaign finance report, said Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz.

“We’re still trying to get all those reports in and accounted for,” Lentz said. “…We’ve just about got there.”

This year, a total of 12 candidates, including three current elected officials, filed their annual campaign finance reports late, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office.

Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay, Bartholomew County Coroner Tom Barrett and Wood were the three current elected officials with late filings, according to county records.

Holden-Kay missed the noon deadline by less than two hours, while Barrett filed his the next day. Wood filed his report on March 12.

Former Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers, who briefly ran for the GOP nomination for Columbus mayor in 2023, missed the filing deadline but filed reports for his sheriff and mayoral committees on Jan. 24.

Former Bartholomew County Council candidate Derick Olson filed his report on March 3.

Other former candidates and public officials who missed the filing deadline include former Columbus Township Trustee Ben Jackson, former Columbus City Clerk candidate Quisha Jackson, former Columbus City Council candidate Christopher Rutan, as well as former Bartholomew County Council candidates Josh Burbrink, John Prohaska and Marcus Speer.

All the candidates except Burton, Wood, Myers and Olson filed their reports within two to three days after the deadline, according to county records.

The Bartholomew County Election Board has scheduled a meeting for April 8 to review the annual campaign finance reports.

Last year, 20 current or former candidates failed to turn in their annual campaign finance reports on time, The Republic reported previously.