Missouri Laws 130.034 – Contributions not to be converted to personal use — allowable uses — gifts ..
1. Contributions as defined in section 130.011, received by any committee shall not be converted to any personal use.
2. Contributions may be used for any purpose allowed by law including, but not limited to:
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 130.034
- candidate: includes an elected officeholder who is the subject of a recall election, an individual who seeks nomination by the individual's political party for election to public office, an individual standing for retention in an election to an office to which the individual was previously appointed, an individual who seeks nomination or election whether or not the specific elective public office to be sought has been finally determined by such individual at the time the individual meets the conditions described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision, and an individual who is a write-in candidate as defined in subdivision (28) of this section. See Missouri Laws 130.011
- Candidate committee: a committee which shall be formed by a candidate to receive contributions or make expenditures in behalf of the person's candidacy and which shall continue in existence for use by an elected candidate or which shall terminate the later of either thirty days after the general election for a candidate who was not elected or upon the satisfaction of all committee debt after the election, except that no committee retiring debt shall engage in any other activities in support of the candidate for which the committee was formed. See Missouri Laws 130.011
- committee: includes , but is not limited to, each of the following committees: campaign committee, candidate committee, continuing committee and political party committee. See Missouri Laws 130.011
- Contribution: includes , but is not limited to:
(a) A candidate's own money or property used in support of the person's candidacy other than expense of the candidate's food, lodging, travel, and payment of any fee necessary to the filing for public office. See Missouri Laws 130.011
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. Source: OCC
- Exploratory committees: a committee which shall be formed by an individual to receive contributions and make expenditures on behalf of this individual in determining whether or not the individual seeks elective office. See Missouri Laws 130.011
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- office: any state, judicial, county, municipal, school or other district, ward, township, or other political subdivision office or any political party office which is filled by a vote of registered voters. See Missouri Laws 130.011
- Person: an individual, group of individuals, corporation, partnership, committee, proprietorship, joint venture, any department, agency, board, institution or other entity of the state or any of its political subdivisions, union, labor organization, trade or professional or business association, association, political party or any executive committee thereof, or any other club or organization however constituted or any officer or employee of such entity acting in the person's official capacity. See Missouri Laws 130.011
- Political party: a political party which has the right under law to have the names of its candidates listed on the ballot in a general election. See Missouri Laws 130.011
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(1) Any ordinary expenses incurred relating to a campaign;
(2) Any ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection with the duties of a holder of elective office;
(3) Any expenses associated with the duties of candidacy or of elective office pertaining to the entertaining of or providing social courtesies to constituents, professional associations, or other holders of elective office;
(4) The return of any contribution to the person who made the contribution to the candidate or holder of elective office;
(5) To contribute to a political organization or candidate committee as allowed by law;
(6) To establish a new committee as defined by this chapter;
(7) To make an unconditional gift which is fully vested to any charitable, fraternal or civic organizations or other associations formed to provide for some good in the order of benevolence, if such candidate, former candidate or holder of elective office or such person’s immediate family gain no direct financial benefit from the unconditional gift;
(8) Except when such candidate, former candidate or holder of elective office dies while the committee remains in existence, the committee may make an unconditional gift to a fund established for the benefit of the spouse and children of the candidate, former candidate or holder of elective office. The provisions of this subdivision shall expire October 1, 1997.
3. Upon the death of the candidate, former candidate or holder of elective office who received such contributions, all contributions shall be disposed of according to this section and any funds remaining after final settlement of the candidate’s decedent‘s estate, or if no estate is opened, then twelve months after the candidate’s death, will escheat to the state of Missouri to be deposited in the general revenue fund.
4. No contributions, as defined in section 130.011, received by a candidate, former candidate or holder of elective office shall be used to make restitution payments ordered of such individual by a court of law or for the payment of any fine resulting from conviction of a violation of any local, state or federal law.
5. Committees described in subdivision (17) of section 130.011 shall make expenditures only for the purpose of determining whether an individual will be a candidate. Such expenditures include polling information, mailings, personal appearances, telephone expenses, office and travel expenses but may not include contributions to other candidate committees.
6. Any moneys in the exploratory committee fund may be transferred to the candidate committee upon declaration of candidacy for the position being explored. Such funds shall be included for the purposes of reporting and limitation. In the event that candidacy is not declared for the position being explored, the remaining exploratory committee funds shall be returned to the contributors on a pro rata basis. In no event shall the amount returned exceed the amount given by each contributor nor be less than ten dollars.
7. Funds held in candidate committees, campaign committees, debt service committees, and exploratory committees shall be liquid such that these funds shall be readily available for the specific and limited purposes allowed by law. These funds may be invested only in short-term treasury instruments or short-term bank certificates with durations of one year or less, or that allow the removal of funds at any time without any additional financial penalty other than the loss of interest income. Continuing committees, political party committees, and other committees such as out-of-state committees not formed for the benefit of any single candidate or ballot issue shall not be subject to the provisions of this subsection. This subsection shall not be interpreted to restrict the placement of funds in an interest-bearing checking account.