Who Must File Campaign Finance Reports in Indiana?

Start with your office, not your fundraising plans

• School-board candidates: the special $500 designation-filing threshold applies regardless of compensation.
• Other local offices paying less than $5,000 per year: the same special threshold applies.
• Other local offices paying $5,000 or more: the lower-paid-office exception does not apply. Exactly $5,000 is not less than $5,000.
• Other candidates, including statewide and state legislative candidates: do not assume the school-board or lower-paid-office threshold applies to you.

IC 3-9-1-5 and -5.5 require a principal committee. The special rule changes when the designation must be filed; it is not a blanket exemption from campaign finance law. This guide focuses on candidate committees. PACs and party committees have their own organizational and reporting requirements.

School boards and the $500 filing threshold

For school-board candidates and candidates for other local offices paying less than $5,000 per year, file the committee designation by noon ten days after contributions exceed $500 or expenditures exceed $500, whichever happens first. The designation may be included in the CFA-1 statement of organization.

Track money received and money spent separately. Exactly $500 received does not exceed the contribution threshold. Receiving $300 and spending $300 does not create $600 of activity for this test. Receiving $501 crosses the contribution threshold even if you have spent nothing.

Keep records from the start so you can identify when either total crosses the threshold. If you already have an open committee, do not use a quiet year or a balance below $500 as a reason to stop reporting.

What HEA 1679 changed for officeholders

The Election Division's 2025 notice explains that covered officeholders must maintain a committee beginning July 1, 2025. No fundraising, no spending, or no plan to seek another term does not remove that requirement. Required CFA-4 reports can show $0 activity.

For school-board and lower-paid-office committees subject to the special rule, a committee that must remain open cannot simply close after the election while the individual remains an officeholder or candidate. The notice also says a committee for one of those offices that closed before July 1, 2025 does not have to reopen unless the individual raises or spends more than $500.

The transition deadline for officeholders who needed to open a committee because of the change was noon July 11, 2025. That was a one-time transition date, not a recurring annual deadline.

If your committee closed before the law changed, or you are considering closing it now, ask your filing office to confirm how the maintenance rule applies to your office and history.

When is the CFA-1 due for other candidates?

Outside the special school-board and lower-paid-office rule, IC 3-9-1-5 sets the designation deadline at the earliest of:

• Noon ten days after becoming a candidate;
• Noon seven days after the applicable candidacy-filing deadline; or
• The date the first campaign finance report is required.

The designation may be included in your statement of organization. Confirm your candidate status and applicable deadline with your filing office rather than waiting until your first donation.

Opening a committee is not the last filing

The CFA-1 organizes the committee. The CFA-4 reports receipts and expenditures afterward. An open committee continues filing reports required for its schedule, including zero-activity reports. Check the Indiana campaign finance calendar and do not assume every committee has the same pre-election obligations.

Local candidates generally file with the county election board; statewide and state legislative candidates file with the Indiana Election Division. Use our county filing guide for local instructions. Late statements and reports can lead to daily filing penalties.

Frequently asked questions