The Arkansas Ethics Commission sanctioned an unsuccessful candidate for the state House of Representatives, Shawn Bates of Subiaco, with a $200 fine and a public letter of caution, according to commission records released this week.
The commission voted 4-0 on Jan. 13 to find that Bates violated Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-207 (a) (1) (D) as a candidate for House District 74 by failing to file a final campaign finance report for the 2020 primary election, commission Director Graham Sloan said in a letter dated Tuesday to Bates.
In the Republican primary in March 2020, Bates lost to state Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers, agreed to pay a $100 fine and receive a public letter of caution in a settlement of an ethics complaint filed by Justin Sappington, Sloan said in a letter dated Feb. 12 to Bryant.
Bryant signed a settlement under which he agreed with the commission finding that he violated Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-226 (c) as a candidate in House District 96 by failing to include the necessary "paid for by" disclaimer on his campaign signs, Sloan wrote in his letter to Bryant.
"It is an oversight on my part," Bryan said Friday.
He said the company that printed his campaign signs placed the "paid for by" disclaimer on some of his signs and left that disclaimer off his other campaign signs, and he's taken full responsibility for the error.