Former Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Daphne Totten has been fined by the Georgia Ethics Commission.
A complaint was filed against Totten on May 23, 2024 for failing to file her campaign contribution and expenditure reports in a timely manner. A review of Totten’s campaign finance filings, however, revealed that she had missed every campaign finance deadline since taking office in 2020. She then continued to file them after the respective deadlines through the end of 2024. The complaint, however, only addressed Totten’s failure to file timely on the April 30, 2024 reporting period.
According to the Consent Order issued by the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission, Totten “filed her April 30, 2024 election year CCDR on May 10, 2024, two days after the 5-day grace period ended.” The Consent Order says Totten told the Commission that she “was late filing due to a technical error that resulted in her having to reset her password to access her filing account.”
The Commission concluded that Totten violated OCGA 21-5-34(c)(2)(A) and, as part of an effort to resolve the complaint, Totten agreed to pay a $125.00 fine by January 13, 2025.
The Order, which is signed by Totten, attests that the findings of the commission are true and prohibits Totten from filing any sort of appeal on the matter.
The Order did not address any of Totten’s other late filings.
Totten was defeated in the Republican primary on May 24, 2024 by Robert Busbee, losing more than 60% of the vote and winning only two voting precincts in the four-county judicial circuit.
