Jurisdiction of Commission

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission only has authority to investigate alleged violations of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act (Act), O.C.G.A. 21-5-1 through 21-5-76. These investigations can be initiated by the Commission on its own motion or by a citizen complaint.

The Act encompasses a number of different types of violations, all of which concern the agency’s core mission of promoting transparency, compliance and disclosure. General types of violations under the Act include:

• Failure to file required disclosure reports (by Candidates, Public officers, lobbyists, campaign committees, independent committees etc)
• Filing false, inaccurate, incomplete disclosure reports (by Candidates, Public officers, lobbyists, campaign committees, independent committees etc)
• Misuse of campaign funds (by Candidates, Public officers)
• Contributions from prohibited sources or in excess of the contribution limits (by contributors, PACs, Candidates, Public officers)
• Contributions by a state agency (by state agencies, PACs, Candidates, Public officers)
• Failure to register as a candidate or committee when required by the Act (by candidate, campaign committee, PACs, independent committees)
• Failure to register as a Lobbyist (by Lobbyists)

The Commission does NOT have jurisdiction to investigate:

• Ethical/ moral conduct of candidates/lobbyists/public officers
• Conflict of interest laws (outside of failure to disclose such interests on proper forms)
• Misuse of State/ local funds
• Activities of state employees (outside of failure to file disclosure forms when required)
• Violations of other provisions of the Elections code
• Violations of criminal law
• Judicial behavior or decisions