TEXAS ETHICS COMMISSION

ETHICS ADVISORY OPINION NO. 236

December 9, 1994

Length of time a state officer must keep copies of financial disclosure statements and supporting documentation. (AOR-264)

The Texas Ethics Commission has received a request for an advisory opinion asking how long a state officer must keep copies of financial disclosure statements and the supporting documentation.

Elected and appointed state officers are required to file annual financial disclosure statements with the Texas Ethics Commission. Gov't Code § 572.021. There is no specific legal requirement that an officer maintain copies of the disclosure statement itself or of the supporting documentation. Cf. Elec. Code § 254.001 (filers must maintain campaign finance filing records for two years). We recommend, nonetheless, that a filer, for his or her own protection, keep a copy of a financial disclosure statement for at least two years after the deadline for filing the statement. See generally Gov't Code § 572.034 (knowing and willful failure to file a financial disclosure statement is a Class B misdemeanor); Code Crim. Proc. art. 12.02 (statute of limitations for misdemeanor is two years).

SUMMARY

There is no specific legal requirement that an officer maintain copies of a financial disclosure statement filed with the Ethics Commission. We recommend, nonetheless, that a filer keep a copy of a financial disclosure statement for at least two years after the deadline for filing the statement.