§ ORS § 260.262Accounts of chief petitioners; review and inspection; preservation of accounts; disclosure as public record; rules

(1) As used in this section, “accounts” means:

(a) Any contract
entered into by a chief petitioner of an initiative or referendum petition
relating to a state measure and any person for purposes of obtaining signatures
on the initiative or referendum petition or on a prospective petition for a
state measure to be initiated;

(b) Any
employment manual or training materials provided to persons who obtain
signatures on the petition or prospective petition;

(c) Payroll
records for each employee obtaining signatures on the petition or prospective
petition showing hours worked, number of signatures collected and amounts paid;

(d) Records
identifying the amount and purpose of each payment made by the chief petitioner
or any contractor, as defined in ORS 260.563, to any subcontractor, as defined
in ORS 260.563, obtaining signatures on the petition or prospective petition;
and

(e) Copies of
signature sheets circulated by persons who are being paid to obtain signatures
on the petition or prospective petition.

(2) For purposes
of enforcing section 1b, Article IV of the Oregon Constitution, a chief
petitioner of an initiative or referendum petition relating to a state measure
who pays any person money or other valuable consideration to obtain signatures
on the petition or prospective petition shall keep detailed accounts. The
accounts shall be current as of not later than the seventh calendar day after
the date a payment is made to a person for obtaining signatures on the petition
or prospective petition.

(3) The Secretary
of State shall review the accounts of each chief petitioner described in
subsection (2) of this section in the manner and according to a regular
schedule adopted by the secretary by rule.

(4) In addition
to the review conducted under subsection (3) of this section, the secretary,
Attorney General or Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may
inspect the accounts of a chief petitioner described in subsection (2) of this
section under reasonable circumstances at any time before the deadline for
filing signatures on the petition or during the period specified for retention
of the accounts under subsection (5) of this section. The right of inspection
may be enforced by writ of mandamus issued by any court of competent
jurisdiction.

(5) A chief
petitioner must preserve the accounts pertaining to an initiative or referendum
petition relating to a state measure, or to a prospective petition for a state
measure to be initiated, for at least two years after the deadline for filing
the petition for verification of signatures or at least two years after the
date the last statement is filed under ORS 260.118, whichever is later.

(6) If a chief
petitioner does not produce accounts under subsection (3) or (4) of this
section:

(a) There is a
rebuttable presumption that a violation of section 1b, Article IV of the Oregon
Constitution, has occurred; and

(b) The chief
petitioner may not obtain additional signatures on the petition or prospective
petition until the chief petitioner is able to supply the accounts to the
secretary, Attorney General or commissioner.

(7) Accounts are
not subject to disclosure under ORS 192.311 to 192.478. [2007 c.848 §5; 2009
c.533 §4; 2013 c.519 §5]