HB 411 Summary

• Establishes a streamlined administrative fine process for ethics and lobbying violations under $1,000, allowing the state ethics commission to issue notice and order of administrative fines without requiring a full formal hearing.

• The administrative fine order becomes final 20 days after service unless the alleged violator requests a hearing; the commission may then affirm, modify, or rescind the order after conducting a chapter 91 hearing.

• Allows the state ethics commission to file administrative fine orders with the circuit court of the first circuit as final judgments enforceable like other court judgments, with no appeal permitted.

• Amends section 84-39 (state ethics code fines) and section 97-7 (lobbyist law fines) to recognize administrative fines as a third method of assessing penalties, alongside formal hearings and settlement agreements.

• Applies the same streamlined administrative fine procedures to violations of both the state ethics code and the lobbyist law for consistency and efficiency.