Complaint and Case Information Portal

1. Status.
   1. Complaints. The results will show you if a complaint has been opened into a case, combined into an existing case, or rejected five days after a notification that a determination has been made and sent. 
   2. Cases. The results will show you if the case is open and pending or closed.
2. Complaint type. This lists the sources of the complaints and cases, including Sworn Complaints, Commission-initiated Complaints (this type includes Non-sworn Complaints and Anonymous Complaints), Staff/Filing Officer Referrals, and AdWatch submissions.
3. Complaint and Case jurisdiction. Both city and county are listed.
4. All Respondents (the persons accused of violating the Political Reform Act) and Complainants (the persons alleging violations) associated with the complaint or case.
5. For complaints, the date the complaint was received. For cases, the date the case was opened, and if applicable, closed.
6. Case Violation type. This is what is alleged or proven. This option only applies to cases, not complaints, and includes:
   1. 2020 Pre-Election
   2. 2022 Pre-Election
   3. Advertisements
   4. AdWatch
   5. Annual Fees
   6. Behested Payment
   7. CalPERS
   8. Campaign Bank Account
   9. Campaign Committee Coordination
   10. Campaign Contribution Limits
   11. Campaign Non-Filer
   12. Campaign Non-Reporter
   13. Campaign Reporting
   14. Cash and In-Kind Contributions and/or Expenditures
   15. City of Sacramento Ordinance
   16. Committee Naming Requirements
   17. Conflict of Interests
   18. Filing Officer Duties
   19. Gift Over-the-Limit
   20. Gift Reporting
   21. LAFCO
   22. Laundered Campaign Contributions
   23. Legal Defense Fund
   24. Loans
   25. Lobbying Reporting
   26. Mass Mailings
   27. Misuse of Campaign Funds
   28. Non-PRA
   29. Other
   30. Recordkeeping
   31. Revolving Door
   32. San Bernardino County Ordinance
   33. Slate Mailer Organization Violations
   34. Statements of Economic Interest Non-Filer
   35. Statements of Economic Interest Non-Reporter
   36. Unlawful Honorarium
   37. Unlawful Travel Payments, Advances, Reimbursements or Other Expenditures.
7. Disposition. This information appears after the case has been closed. Dispositions include:
   1. No Violations Found (No Action or Advisory letter issued)
   2. Violations Found (Warning letter, Stipulation approved by the Commission, Default approved by the Commission, Civil judgement approved by the Commission, Administrative judgement approved by the Commission, or Administratively terminated).

For complaints, you may select to search by (1) respondent name, (2) complainant name, (3) complaint number (the number automatically assigned to the complaint when the Enforcement Division received it), or (4) jurisdiction – county or city. Once you have your search results, you can focus those results by adding additional categories to search. Important – remember to use the format “COM-” when searching complaints by complaint number. (e.g. COM-01012020-00005)

For cases, you may select to search by (1) respondent name, (2) complainant name, (3) case number, (4) jurisdiction, or (5) case violation type (see the list above for selections). Once you have your search results, you can focus those results by adding additional categories to search. Important – remember to use the format “XXXX-XXXXX” when searching cases by case number (e.g. 2016-00036).

In addition, to search by date: Cases and complaints can be sorted in chronological order by clicking the case or complaint number column. When the arrow indicator is pointing up, the results are in ascending order - newest first. Pointing down means descending order - oldest first. For searches that return many pages of results, the filter box above the search results can provide an additional layer of filtering to narrow down the search using a particular day, month, case/complaint status, jurisdiction, or external party. For advanced searches, the download button on the top right of the search pane can export the search results into PDF or Excel for further data manipulation and processing. 

To obtain records of any complaints or cases, first search the Commission’s website at www.fppc.ca.gov. If the records are not available there, submit a CA Public Records request. This form can be found on the Commission’s website and be submitted through email to cpra@fppc.ca.gov. For ease of reference, the link to the CA Public Records request page is: http://www.fppc.ca.gov/transparency/public-records-request.html.

Please email complaint@fppc.ca.gov with specific questions regarding the Complaint and Case Information Portal.