Collin County Judge Keith Self puts campaign donor list online

by Bill Baumbach of The Collin County Observer

Collin County Judge Keith Self, who is running for re-election, has posted a list of his campaign donors and their contributions (PDF) on his website. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time an incumbent or candidate for our commissioners court has made such a disclosure online.

Judge Self's press release stated, "I'm proud that Collin County was the first county in the entire nation to post our checkbook registry online, providing citizens with the opportunity to see first-hand how their tax dollars are spent. I'm extending that type of transparency to my campaign, allowing Collin County citizens convenient and full disclosure to my campaign funding."

State ethics law requires that candidates report all political donations and expenses. These reports are public records and any citizen can look at or copy them. The State of Texas' Ethics Commission maintains a website where citizens can see online all campaign finance reports for all statewide candidates, as well as candidates for District Judge, District Attorney, and State Legislature.

However, most other county office candidates fall under a rule that designates them as "local filers." Local filers, such as candidates for County Judge and County Commissioner, do not file their ethics reports with the state, but with the county Elections Department.

Collin County does not publish campaign finance reports online -- citizens must go to the elections office and request a copy. The county charges a nominal per page fee for all copies.

There is no law that prohibits Collin County from posting all local filer's ethics disclosures on the internet. I hope that Judge Self's action will prod the commissioners to require that the elections department post all campaign finance reports online.

In posting the list of campaign donors, Self has raised the transparency bar for anyone running for local office. Self listed 36 donors who have contributed $22,600 to his re-election campaign. The largest donors were Jim & Jennie Daley of Plano who contributed $5,000. State Representative Brian McCall was the next largest contributor, giving Self's campaign $2,500.

Five contributors each donated $1,000. They are Mark & Sherry Tucker David of McKinney, Rex & Sherese Glendenning of Celina, John & Diann Jones from Anna, Ray & Ann Huffines, and Jerry & Judy Gallagher of Plano.