Circuit judge violated law, state panel says

Mixed campaign, personal funds

— Circuit Judge Michael Maggio violated state law, in part by converting some campaign funds into personal income during his 2008 re-election campaign, the Arkansas Ethics Commission has concluded.

The commission recently issued a public letter of warning to Maggio, who lives in Conway, and fined him $500 after he agreed to a settlement offer.

“The Commission is hereby issuing this Public Letter of Warning which is condemnatory in nature and serves to express strong disapproval of your misconduct,” Commission Chairman Elaine Black wrote in an Oct. 5 letter to Maggio.

“It is the Commission’s view that such misconduct serves to undermine public confidence in the integrity of the governmental process,” Black added.

Maggio presides in the 20th Judicial District, which includes Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties.

In an interview Tuesday, Maggio said he has taken responsibility for the problems, paid the fine and is moving on but said judges in Arkansas are placed in a “horrible position” when it comes to campaign-finance matters.

“As a judge, I am strictly prohibited from knowing anything” or having any dealings with campaign finances, but am held responsible for them, Maggio said.

Further, Maggio said that unlike others in the past, “I was not afforded the opportunity [by the commission] to amend the campaign-finance form.”

In a Sept. 22 letter to Maggio, Graham Sloan, the commission’s director, wrote that the panel “was mindful that Canon 4 of the Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits a judicial candidate from personally being involved in soliciting or accepting campaign contributions other than through a campaign committee.”

“However, a judicial candidate is not relieved from ensuring that his or her campaign committee complies with the applicable campaign finance laws,” Sloan added.

Under the settlement, the commission found that Maggio violated Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-203(g)(1), 7-6-206 and 7-6-207(b)(1)(E)-(H).

The findings focused on three checks that totaled $2,354.97 and that were drawn on the account of the Keep Mike Maggio Campaign Committee.

Maggio defeated Conway lawyer John Petruccelli in 2008.

The checks were made payable to Maggio’s wife, Emily, and deposited into a personal checking account that the couple jointly held, Sloan wrote in the Sept. 22 letter.

According to the settlement, Maggio failed to maintain proper records of all campaign expenditures and failed to properly report those expenditures on reports filed with the secretary of state’s office during the 2008 election cycle.

The checks were for $500, $600 and $1,254.97, Sloan wrote.

According to Sloan, Maggio and his wife said the $600 check was written to pay her for services rendered during the campaign.

“However, no record beyond the check itself was produced to support such an expenditure and there was no corresponding disclosure on any of ” the campaigncontribution and expenditure reports, Sloan wrote.

In the interview, Maggio blamed this problem on a “documentation error.”

The $1,254.97 check was listed on Maggio’s contribution and expenditure report as a payment to the Conway Country Club for a “‘campaign committee meeting,’ but the check was actually made payable to your wife,” Sloan told Maggio.

Both of the Maggios subsequently said that check represented the cost of food served at a Mexican buffet catered at their home on election night and of roomrental fees totaling $600 for campaign office space at the Conway Country Club, Sloan related. According to the Maggios, the country club was used to hold meetings and distribute campaign materials, Sloan related.

“Although there was conflicting evidence concerning the cost of the Mexican Buffet event, records produced by the [Conway Country Club] reflected that the cost of the event was $582.91,” Sloan wrote.

“No records made or kept during the ordinary course of business were produced to substantiate the payment of $600.00 to the [Conway Country Club] for room rental fees,” Sloan added.

Regarding the $500 check, Sloan said, the judge’s reports also did not reflect a corresponding entry.

“Although receipts were produced for expenditures totaling $497.83 which were made for a newspaper advertisement, materials for yard signs, campaign materials, and invitations to fundraisers held during your campaign, no receipt was produced for the remaining $2.17,” Sloan wrote.

“Moreover, the receipt for the fundraising invitations reflected that they cost $282.54, but this expenditure was not disclosed as an itemized expenditure over $100.00 on any” of Maggio’s reports, Sloan added.

Rita Looney, the commission’s chief counsel, said Tuesday that the Maggio investigation resulted from a commission-initiated complaint.

In September, the commission voted 4-0, with Commissioner Paul Dumas recusing, that probable cause existed for finding the violations. That vote led to the settlement offer.

Arkansas, Pages 12 on 10/27/2010

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