Days before election, sheriff admits violating campaign finance law

EVERETT — Less than a week before election day, Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney acknowledged violating state law by accepting campaign contributions over the state limit and filing inaccurate financial reports.

On Wednesday, the sheriff, who was elected in 2019, agreed to pay a $450 fine, in lieu of a state Public Disclosure Commission enforcement hearing.

“I would like to avoid the time and expense resulting from a Brief Adjudicative Proceeding,” Fortney wrote in a letter to the commission Wednesday. “Therefore, in lieu of a hearing, I acknowledge that the campaign violated Washington law.”

This comes just days before a contentious election that will decide who will serve as Snohomish County’s top law enforcement officer. The race between Fortney, a tough-on-crime former sheriff’s deputy, and Bothell’s Deputy Police Chief Susanna Johnson, who made it to the upper echelons of sheriff’s office leadership before briefly retiring, has brought in upward of $430,000 in campaign contributions. On election night Tuesday, it will be perhaps the most closely watched race in the county.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/days-before-election-sheriff-admits-violating-campaign-finance-law/