John Collins-Muhammad, who represents the 21st ward of St. Louis, has been sued a second time by state election regulators.
The alderman allegedly violated campaign finance violations and did not pay fines that were levied against him, according to Missouri Ethics Commission proceedings posted online.
“It's the second lawsuit but it's for the same collection of offenses,” said Nick Kasoff, a former Libertarian candidate for Missouri Treasurer. “The previous suit was dismissed when the parties failed to appear.”
Collins-Muhammad owes $930 to the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC) because he was late with multiple filings concerning fundraising and spending.
“Missouri has a lot of campaign finance rules but the penalties for violating them generally are pretty small,” Kasoff told the St. Louis Record. “If it’s a technical violation that doesn't involve taking money that you shouldn't have taken, the fines are small and, in this case, John filed late reports.”
A hearing is set for Nov. 15 before Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh.
“Almost certainly if he doesn't pay the money before the hearing, they'll just issue a judgment and a judgment is only worth the paper it's printed on,” Kasoff said. “Once the state gets a judgment, they could garnish his salary, which is $37,000 a year.”
Collins-Muhammad did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“I don't think he would forfeit his office for it because it's not a criminal offense and I don't know that it would necessarily cost him a lot of votes,” Kasoff said. “My gut feeling is I don't think that John will lose an election over this because, overall, John is a good guy. He’s not a crooked politician.”