SECTION 81.107. Primary-Fund Records

(a) The county chair shall preserve all records relating to primary-election expenses until the later of:

(1) 22 months following the primary elections; or

(2) the conclusion of any relevant litigation or official investigation.

(b) In order to receive approval of a final cost report, the county chair shall transmit copies of receipts, bills, invoices, contracts, competitive bids, petty-cash receipts for items and services and copies of all monthly bank statements, electronic bookkeeping records (i.e., Quicken or Quickbooks) or check register, and any other related materials documenting primary-fund expenditures. Purchase requisitions are not considered receipts and may not be remitted as such. The SOS reserves the right to request all receipts and related documentation.

(1) The SOS primary finance system will not permit final cost reports to be submitted if any required documentation has not been uploaded to the system.

(2) If the county chair or county election officer indicates that the required documents will be submitted in hardcopy form, the submitter will have thirty (30) days to submit such documents to the SOS. If the SOS does not receive the required documents within that time period, the SOS will reject the final cost report.

(c) Unless otherwise provided by the SOS, not later than August 31 of the year in which the primary elections occur, the county chair shall:

(1) comply with all final cost reporting requirements;

(2) return all unexpended and uncommitted primary funds upon SOS approval of the final cost report.

(d) If the SOS determines that a final cost report needs remediation, the SOS will return the report to the submitter with instructions for resubmission.

(e) Failure to comply with subsection (c) or (d) of this section may result in forfeiture of county chair compensation as stipulated in §81.119 of this chapter (relating to County Chair's Compensation).

(f) If the chair does not file a final cost report, the matter may be reported to the Attorney General's Office for misappropriation of funds in accordance with §81.113 of this chapter (relating to Misuse of State Funds).

Source Note: The provisions of this §81.107 adopted to be effective December 13, 2009, 34 TexReg 8665; amended to be effective March 7, 2012, 37 TexReg 1483; amended to be effective January 9, 2014, 39 TexReg 209; amended to be effective October 29, 2017, 42 TexReg 5853; amended to be effective December 29, 2019, 44 TexReg 7884; amended to be effective January 17, 2024, 49 TexReg 133