Metro Councilmember Hall fined $360K for campaign finance violations

State ethics officials have determined the maximum civil penalty for Metro Councilmember Jonathan Hall’s 36 campaign finance violations to be $360,000.

Until the penalties are paid in full, Hall is ineligible to run for public office again. Absent at Thursday’s Tennessee Registry of Election Finance hearing, he reportedly attributes his infractions to tardiness in filing campaign documents, according to The Tennessean, but $6,972 worth of withdrawals and another $4,160 for miscellaneous expenses are not appropriately detailed on Hall's disclosure forms, which appears to speculators like registry member Tom Lawless like personal use — an observation buttressed by certain expenses listed going to “Firestone” and “Southwest.”