The commission and its executive director must review filings, audit or investigate alleged violations in defined circumstances, notify affected people on deadlines, keep investigations confidential, and may refer reports to prosecutors.
*105.959. Review of reports and statements, notice — audits and investigations — formal investigations — report — referral of report. — 1. The executive director of the commission, under the supervision of the commission, shall review reports and statements filed with the commission or other appropriate officers pursuant to sections 105.470, 105.483 to 105.492, and chapter 130 for completeness, accuracy and timeliness of filing of the reports or statements, and upon review, if there are reasonable grounds to believe that a violation has occurred, shall conduct an audit of such reports and statements. All investigations by the executive director of an alleged violation shall be strictly confidential with the exception of notification of the commission and the complainant or the person under investigation. All investigations by the executive director shall be limited to the information contained in the reports or statements. The commission shall notify the complainant or the person under investigation, by registered mail, within five days of the decision to conduct such investigation. Revealing any such confidential investigation information shall be cause for removal or dismissal of the executive director or a commission member or employee. 2. Upon findings of the appropriate filing officer which are reported to the commission in accordance with the provisions of section 130.056, the executive director shall audit disclosure reports, statements and records pertaining to such findings within a reasonable time after receipt of the reports from the appropriate filing officer. 3. Upon a sworn written complaint of any natural person filed with the commission pursuant to section 105.957, the commission shall audit and investigate alleged violations. Within sixty days after receipt of a sworn written complaint alleging a violation, the executive director shall notify the complainant in writing of the action, if any, the executive director has taken and plans to take on the complaint. If an investigation conducted pursuant to this subsection fails to establish reasonable grounds to believe that a violation has occurred, the investigation shall be terminated and the complainant and the person who had been under investigation shall be notified of the reasons for the disposition of the complaint. 4. The commission may make such investigations and inspections within or outside of this state as are necessary to determine compliance. 5. If, during an audit or investigation, the commission determines that a formal investigation is necessary, the commission shall assign the investigation to a special investigator in the manner provided by subsection 1 of section 105.961. 6. After completion of an audit or investigation, the executive director shall provide a detailed report of such audit or investigation to the commission. Upon determination that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person has violated the requirements of sections 105.470, 105.483 to 105.492, or chapter 130, by a vote of four members of the commission, the commission may refer the report with the recommendations of the commission to the appropriate prosecuting authority together with a copy of the audit and the details of the investigation by the commission as is provided in subsection 2 of section 105.961. (L. 1991 S.B. 262 § 3, A.L. 1997 S.B. 16, A.L. 2006 H.B. 1900, A.L. 2010 S.B. 844, A.L. 2018 S.B. 975 & 1024 Revision) *Revisor's Note: S.B. 844 in 2010 amended this section. S.B. 844 was declared unconstitutional (see Legends Bank v. State, 361 S.W.3d 383 (Mo. banc)). The S.B. 844 version of this section was repealed by S.B. 975 & 1024 Revision, 2018. This version of this section (the 2006 language from H.B. 1900, effective 1/1/2007), reprinted in accordance with Section 3.066, is the current version.