Defense and Compliance Attorneys
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The phrase refers to new reporting that Colorado has largely written off millions in unpaid campaign finance fines instead of seriously trying to collect them.
Core findings
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Colorado officials forgave more than $5.1 million in campaign debt from 208 campaign committees in 2024, often after years of inactivity and missed reports.
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The official justification was that “collection efforts…have been unsuccessful,” but records show the state did little beyond sending automated delinquency letters and never actually engaging collection agencies in recent years.
How the system is supposed to work
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The Secretary of State tracks campaign finance reports, can terminate inactive committees after six missed reports, and is allowed to send unpaid fines to state or private collection agencies.
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If a terminated committee’s debt is older than six years and considered uncollectible, state officials can wipe it from the books with controller and treasurer approval.
What actually happened
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The prior state controller’s office reports it has not received any campaign finance penalty accounts to collect since at least 2018, and the Secretary of State has not hired private collectors despite claiming such efforts failed.
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In 2025, the state collected only about $17,500 in penalties from 66 committees, a tiny fraction of the multimillion‑dollar balances outstanding.
Illustrative examples
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One 2012 state House candidate’s committee accumulated about $513,500 in fines after never closing the account; the debt was eventually wiped out in the 2024 mass forgiveness.
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Another former candidate’s 2008 committee was assessed roughly $550,400 in penalties, yet the state later forgave the amount, even though reporters easily found him at the address on his voter registration.
Why enforcement is weak
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Many committees shut down informally, ignore paperwork, and leave no active bank account or clear responsible party, making collection legally and practically difficult.
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Experts quoted in the reporting describe the system as effectively one big write‑off, where automatic fines pile up on paper but are rarely pursued with meaningful enforcement or realistic payment options.
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