Campaign Integrity Watchdog, LLC v. Alliance for a Safe and Independent Woodmen Hills

Citations

• 2017 COA 22

Syllabus

Fair Campaign Practices Act—Campaign and Political Finance Amendment—Statute of Limitations. The Alliance for a Safe and Independent Woodmen Hills (Alliance) was established to work for the common good and general welfare of the Woodmen Hills community. Before the 2014 Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District board of directors' election, Alliance sent postcards and created Facebook posts directed at undermining the character of a board candidate. Campaign Integrity Watchdog, LLC (CIW) filed a complaint with the Secretary of State alleging a violation of § 9 of the Campaign and Political Finance Amendment, Colo. Const. Art. 28 (Amendment) and various violations of the Fair Campaign Practices Act (FCPA). The matter was referred to the Office of Administrative Courts. After a hearing, the administrative law judge (ALJ) found that the alliance was a \political committee\ under the FCPA and it failed to register and file required reports as of the first day of the hearing, June 26, 2014. Thus Alliance violated the FCPA. The ALJ imposed a fine and ordered Alliance to register with the Secretary of State and file all required reports. Alliance filed a motion to stay the decision, which was denied, and immediately thereafter filed a notice of appeal, which it then withdrew. About a year later, CIW filed a complaint in district court to enforce the ALJ's decision. Alliance filed a CRCP 12(b)(5) motion to dismiss alleging the Amendment's one-year statute of limitations barred CIW's enforcement action. The district court dismissed the complaint, finding it time-barred under the Amendment. On appeal, both parties agreed that the statute of limitations is triggered by the date of \violation\ in § 9(2)(a) of the Amendment, but disagreed about what \violation\ means. The Court of Appeals concluded that \violation\ means the act(s) of breaking or dishonoring the FCPA or Amendment and therefore the statute of limitations began running the day following the last such act. The Court then