Both the Louisiana Board of Ethics and District Attorney Keith Stutes have filed petitions to challenge the candidacy of Brian Pope for the Lafayette city marshal race.
As KATC Investigates first reported last night, Pope signed the qualifying form indicating, among other requirements, he did not owe any fines related to the Code of Governmental Ethics. We spoke with the Ethics Board however, who told us he owed $5,000 stemming from fines in 2013 and 2018.
According to the court documents filed today Pope did not file his 2018 Personal Finance Statement despite several reminders, which led to one $2,500 fine. Another fine involved him not filing his 2013 Personal Financial Statement by the due date (485 days late). He was initially offered a waiver of that fine, but when he missed another due date, he was ordered to pay that $2,500 fine as well.
The court document references the Louisiana statue that allows someone to object to a candidacy of a person if they falsely certified that they do not owe any outstanding fines, fees, or penalties according to the Code of Governmental Ethics.
The district attorney's office also filed a petition based on a complaint from a Lafayette resident because Pope is not a registered voter which is also a requirement to run.
Both hearings have been set for Tuesday morning.
Read more on that issue, plus other qualification issues in the marshal's race HERE.
