Verhey, Steven: Alleged Violation of RCW 42.17A.235, .240 for failure to file accurate contribution reports. (AUG 2019)

Case

#56012

Respondent

Steven D Verhey

Complainant

Thomas Fancher

Description

The PDC received a complaint alleging that Steven Verhey (the “Respondent”) may have violated RCW 42.17A.235 & .240 by failing to accurately report a contribution.

PDC staff reviewed the allegations; the applicable statutes, rules and reporting requirements; the response provided by the Respondent; and the Respondent’s reporting history to determine whether they support a finding of one or more violations. Staff’s review found the following:

The Respondent is a candidate for election who timely registered with the PDC as a candidate on May 27, 2019. On July 20, 2019, the Respondent reported a $500 contribution from Peter Barr-Gillespie that contained a typographical error in the contributor’s address (state). 

The Respondent indicated that the error was the result of the PDC online filing system defaulting to the last state field used. The unintentional error in the contributor’s address was corrected on an amended C-3 report filed September 17, 2019. 

Based on these findings, staff determined that, in this instance, the Respondent’s failure to accurately report a contributor’s address does not amount to a violation that warrants further investigation. The Respondent made a minor or ministerial error on a required report that did not materially impact the public interest, which he amended after being notified. This case was thereby resolved as a technical correction. The PDC has dismissed this matter in accordance with RCW 42.17A.755(1). 

Disposition

Resolved with Technical Correction

Date Opened

August 12, 2019

Areas of Law

RCW 42.17A.240

Documents

• 56012 Verhey Steven Response.pdf
• 56012 Verhey Steven Complaint.pdf
• 56012 Verhey Steven Technical Correction Letter.pdf