Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron must pay a $135,000 penalty for 474 campaign finance law violations that the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance found in a series of audits.
The Registry voted last Wednesday to assess the penalty, as well as drop $80,000 in previously announced fines for missing deadlines to file campaign finance reports.
Three audits of Ketronâs campaign accounts for state senator, county mayor and Quest Political Action Committee were conducted last year at the request of Rutherford County Commissioner Robert Stevens.
The civil penalty total was calculated by assessing a $45,000 penalty against each of the three campaign accounts.
The county mayoral account civil penalty will have to be paid before Ketron runs for re-election next February. Ketron said he doesnât plan to return to the state senate.
New audit raises more questions about Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron s campaign spending
WTVF
and last updated 2021-02-10 15:06:21-05
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) â A new audit raises even more questions about how Rutherford County mayor Bill Ketron spent his campaign money.
The latest financial inquiry ordered by the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance looked at Ketron s spending in 2018 and early 2019 from his campaign account during his successful run for mayor of Rutherford County. The board received the audit findings at their meeting Wednesday.
The audit found Ketron failed to properly report more than $100,000 in contributions and expenditures. Of that, auditors say Ketron failed to report more than $66,000 that he spent while he also claimed more than $14,000 in expenditures that appeared to never have happened, and were never paid and never owed. The audit also indicates that more than $43,000 in expenses were filed with no supporting documentation.
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