001The following program is a presentation of the Ohio School Boards Association. [music] It's an oddnumbered year, which means schoolboard races will be on ballots across Ohio this November. Hey everyone, it's Scott Griffin and welcome to the Legal Ledger sidebar. Well, as election season approaches, OSBA is hearing from both firsttime and veteran candidates with questions about everything from organizing a campaign to recordeping and filing required reports. OSBA's legal division is here to connect candidates with the tools and guidance they need as the campaign begins for the November election. Well, today I am joined by staff attorney John Price and Jenny Harden, our senior deputy director of legal services to cover some of the campaign basics every board candidate should know. So, Jenny, how many school board positions are we going to see on the ballot this
002year? >> That's a great question, Scott, and it depends. For most boards, there are five positions, which means there are either two or three open seats in the November election. However, if there was a vacancy that they had to fill during the last two years or if the board is composed of more than five members, there could be four or even more positions open on the ballot. >> And the deadline to file as a candidate was August 6th. So, if you're still considering that, the time has elapsed, right? >> Yeah, the time has elapsed for that, but you can still file as a write-in candidate. Um, writein candidates can file um up until August 25th. Uh, where can a candidate get that form? >> Uh, great question. They can get it from their county board
003of elections. They can also get it from the Secretary of State's website. Speaking of which, um, in the blog that accompanies this sidebar, we'll have links to all the forms and resources that John and I are going to talk about today. >> So, John, uh, what are the next steps uh, for people who have filed the necessary uh, forms and will be candidates this fall? So the first step is to see whether the county board of elections actually certifies their petition. Um the deadline for the county boards of elections to do that is August 18th. Uh provided that their candidacy is uh certified, board members can then begin to run their campaigns. >> And and what does that involve? >> So that depends on whether the candidate intends to receive contributions and make expenditures. If
004they do, they have to file what we call a designation of treasurer form uh with the same board of elections where they filed their petition and that's also where they will be naming their campaign committee. >> And can you use any name for that committee? >> Um almost uh you can use any name except the name has to include the candidate's last name. >> Gotcha. So once the the candidate has uh designated a treasurer by filing the form, uh they can accept contributions and make expenditures, right? >> They can as long as they've opened a bank account. Um the bank account has to be just for the campaign. You can't use your personal account or a business account to deposit campaign contributions or make expenditures. >> And are there limits uh on those contributions? There
005are uh both on contributions and expenditures. Um for example, candidates can't accept contributions from people who are not US citizens or people who are younger than seven. Seven and up is fine. Um there are also limits on how campaign funds can be used. Um candidates need to remember that contributions and expend or sorry contributions can include more than just money. Um if someone is donating goods or services to the campaign, those are inind contributions. So, how would a candidate find out more information about what's permissible uh prohibited in terms of contributions? >> Yeah, the secretary of state has a campaign finance uh handbook which is available on its website and again the link will be in the accompanying blog. >> So, uh John, I know that uh candidates must keep uh records of their contributions
006and expenditures. That's that's right. Right. >> Yes. And that's actually something that we're that candidates need to keep in mind when selecting a campaign treasurer. That needs to be someone who is actually really skilled with uh detailed record recordkeeping and has good attention to detail. >> Uh what kind of records will uh candidates and their treasurers be keeping? What do they have to keep track of? >> Yes. So for contributions, um the candidate and treasurer need to keep itemized records of the contributor's name and street address uh and the date, form, and amount of the contribution. And when we're talking about expenditures, >> yes, uh, lots of detail for that, too. So, for expenditures, the candidate and treasurer will be keeping itemized records of the name and address of the person paid and the date,
007amount, and purpose of the expenditure. And if the amount the if the amount of the expenditure is over $25, then they also need to keep what we call a receipted bill of the transaction. Um, and that can be a canceled check, a printout of the bank statement listing the payment, or a receipt marked paid by the vendor. So, Jenny, why uh do candidates need such detailed records? I'm sure this can be overwhelming for people doing this obviously for the first time. >> Yeah, absolutely. It can be overwhelming and especially if you get behind the eightball and you haven't kept those records. They need the records because they're going to be required to file campaign finance reports. Most candidates will have to file at least two campaign finance reports in connection with this election. >> You
008said most candidates. Uh how does a candidate know whether they have to file? >> Well, uh the best resource is the that campaign finance handbook that we already talked about. Um generally if a candidate most, as I said, most candidates have to file. The only people who don't have to file are people who are not accepting any contributions or making any expenditures or they filed a waiver from the filing requirement and then of course complied with the waiver requirements otherwise everyone has to file even if they're sorry. Yeah, everyone has to file. So uh what if a candidate is funding uh their own campaign? They're not taking money from any anyone else. >> Even if you are funding your own campaign, those funds are considered contributions to your campaign fund and the expenditures are expenditures
009from your campaign fund. So even folks who are self-funding have to keep track of all of their uh expenditures and then disclose them on a campaign finance report. John, when are pre and post general election reports due? >> So for this year, the pre uh election report is due October 23rd, which is 12 days before the general election. The post general election report is due on December 12th, which is 38 days after the election >> and what needs to be included in those reports. >> So it depends on when the candidate began to receive contributions and make expenditures and it also depends on the amount of those contri contributions and expenditures. More information about all the requirements is included in the SOS campaign finance. I would encourage folks to just go look at that um
010because there's a lot of detail involved. >> So once a candidate has filed uh two reports as a candidate, those two reports as a candidate, are they done? >> Uh they might be. So if they've spent down their campaign fund legally and terminate their campaign, then then they're done. Um if they if they don't do that, then they need to check with their county board of elections about ongoing filing requirements. >> Well, thank you for covering some of this for our candidates today. Uh if anyone viewing this sidebar has more questions, uh can they call one of you? >> Absolutely. We're happy to answer questions and if we don't have the answers or can't find them for any reason, we can connect people with folks who will have those answers. Um, people can call us
011at any time on the legal hotline which is 855 OSBA law or 672-22529. Um, we'll be happy to get back to you. >> And John, there is a and I I'd be remiss if we didn't mention this, but OSBA does have a get onboard.org uh resource for anyone who is running for school board. Right. >> That's correct. And as Jenny said, we're happy to talk to any um any wouldbe candidates about those processes on the legal hotline. >> Thanks for joining [music] us on this edition of the Legal Ledger Sidebar. We'll see you next time.