County Chief Asst. Prosecutor Now Owes $5,000 in Late Campaign Finance Fees

by P. D. Lesko

According to the Wayne County Clerk and campaign finance records, Washtenaw County Chief Asst. Prosecutor Victoria Burton-Harris is on her way to being referred for prosecution by the Michigan Attorney General. Under AG Dana Nessel, campaign finance law was changed and candidates who miss filing deadlines and who rack up campaign finance fees are now subject to prosecution by the State of Michigan. Burton-Harris’s Failure to File fees stretch back to Aug. of 2020. For the third time in as many years, Burton-Harris neglected to file her Dec. Annual Campaign Finance statement. In Feb. 2023, the Wayne County Clerk assessed Burton-Harris another $500 Failure to File fee.

Sheriff’s candidate Derrick Jackson was late with his Dec. 2022 Amended Annual Statement. The Statement was due on Feb. 13, 2023. On Feb. 14, 2023, Washtenaw County Clerk Lawrence Kestenbaum sent off the required letter to Michigan AG Dana Nessel.

Dear Ms. Nessel:
February 14, 2023
In accordance with the provisions of Act 388 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended, you are hereby notified of the names of candidates and other committees who have failed to file statements, reports and/or corrections as required by law.

Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett and the County’s Director of Elections, Gregory Mahar, were both asked by email whether the Burton-Harris committee’s unpaid fines had been referred to the Wayne County Treasurer, the Michigan Dept. of Treasury and the Attorney General’s Office. The A2Indy’s questions were referred to the County Clerk’s Dir. of Communications, Lisa Williams, as well as the Gregory Mahar, Dir. of Elections, and Deputy Dir. of Elections, Jennifer Redmond. Mahar, Redmond and Williams have not yet replied.

The fees imposed on Victoria Burton-Harris by the Wayne County Clerk are as follows:

• 7/27/2020: Candidate Committee Late Filing Fee Notice: $25 (Burton-Harris paid this by check on Aug. 18, 2020)
• 8/20/2020 Post Primary Late Contribution Fee Notice: $2,000
• 12/31/20 Failure to File Annual Campaign Statement: $500
• 10/20/21 Failure to File Quarterly Campaign Statement: $500
• 12/31/21: Failure to File Annual Campaign Statement: $500
• 7/20/22: Failure to File Quarterly Campaign Statement: $500
• 10/20/22: Failure to File Quarterly Campaign Statement: $500
• 12/31/22: Failure to File Annual Campaign Statement: $500

According to a spokesperson from the AG’s office, the law which governs candidates who don’t pay their assessed fees, and candidates who fail to file campaign finance disclosures, is applied uniformly. No exceptions. County Clerks are expected to uphold the law by referring deadbeat candidates like Victoria Burton-Harris to collections by the County Treasurer, and for prosecution.

Burton-Harris recently moved from Wayne to Washtenaw County, Assessor’s records show.

In April 2023, the Ann Arbor Independent reported that Burton-Harris still owed thousands of dollars in campaign finance fees from her unsuccessful 2020 bid to oust Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. In April, the newspaper reported that Burton-Harris had not dissolved her candidate committee. As such, she is subject to all of the reporting requirements of the State of Michigan Bureau of Elections. A search of Wayne County candidate committee filings show that Burton-Harris still has not dissolved her candidate committee.

The Statement of Organization shows that in 2019, Victoria Burton-Harris listed herself as her own campaign treasurer. In 2020, the Statement of Organization lists Robert Burton-Harris as her campaign treasurer.

In July 2021, Burton-Harris petitioned the Wayne County Clerk for a Reporting Waiver. In other words, Burton-Harris swore to the Clerk that her campaign would not take in a total of more than $1,000. As a result, Burton-Harris asked to be exempted from campaign finance statement disclosure requirements.

Gil Flowers, who works on the Campaign Finance team in the County Clerk’s office, denied Burton-Harris’s request. Flowers wrote in a July 2021 letter to Burton-Harris, “Your request for a reporting waiver has been denied because you have reported an ending balance of $16,957.82 per your filed amended Post-Primary 2020 Campaign Statement. The reported amount is over the reporting waiver of $1,000.”

Records show Burton-Harris’s campaign finance statements beginning in 2019 were flagged by the Wayne County Clerk’s office. There were errors in addition and subtraction, missing pages (in one case the page that was supposed to disclose all itemized donations), missing information about donors, and a $1,000 expenditure that was not explained.

Campaign finance reporting can be complicated and exacting. Candidates and their treasurers make mistakes frequently. However, ignoring filing deadlines and neglecting to pay fees imposed violates Michigan Campaign Finance law.

In Michigan, fees and fines assessed by a court must be paid within 56 days. Under MCL 600.4801 and 600.4803, a 20% late penalty is applied to any total amount of costs, fees, penalty, or civil violation which has not been paid 56 days after the amount is due.

In April 2023, Victoria Burton-Harris was asked in an email if she plans to adhere to Michigan law, pay her overdue fines and file the required campaign finance disclosures/amended statements for 2021 and 2022. She has not yet replied.