Texas Ethics Commission
Help for Local Filers

Campaign Finance Filers

Candidates, officeholders, and political committees involved with a Local office or measure must file their Campaign Finance reports with their local filing authority. Find information about your filing requirements, what must be disclosed, and your reporting frequency.

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Filing a Campaign Finance Report

A local filer is one that runs for and/or holds an office that may include county offices (county commissioner, tax assessor/collector, city chair, constable, justice of the peace, sheriff, etc.), city offices (mayor, council member, secretary, etc.), or political subdivision offices (school board, community college trustee, municipal utility district, water district, etc.). You are a filer type COH or JCOH.

To use the electronic filing application, you must first set up a filer id/account. This filer id is your selected email address. All password tokens are sent to this address. Go to the registration page and select that you are not a TEC filer in order to create your new local filer account. To login to the application, use the link above. If you cannot remember your password, see Forgot Password below.

If you are a first time filer, reference the guides and FAQs in the Resources section.

When you create your report electronically, you will use the print preview option of the application to print the report. There will be no treasurer information included on the cover sheet pages. You must fill this in by hand. You may then deliver your report to your local filing authority.

In order to reset your account’s password you must first request an email token by clicking on the “Forgot Password?” link on the login page as illustrated below.

Screenshot showing second steps for resetting your filing password

At the next screen, you must enter your email address user ID in the field shown with a red arrow pointing to the location. After entering your user ID, select your filer type from the pull down menu accessed by clicking the ▼. Then select the Next button at the far right bottom of the screen to proceed. This screen is illustrated below.

Screenshot showing first step for resetting your filing password

You will receive a message in blue at the top right corner “An email has been sent”. An email from do-not-reply@ethics.texas.gov containing a link to change your password will be emailed to your primary email address on file.

The email token is good for 1 day only. After that you must request a new password reset. The email token can be clicked only once. After it has been used, it is no longer usable.

Remember your user ID syntax and spelling must match exactly as you originally entered.

  1. Access the filing application.
  2. Select the “Local Authority” option:
    Screenshot showing where to click to select the Local Filing App
  3. Create your filer ID using your email address. This filer ID is case sensitive.
    Screenshot showing where to click if you do not have a Local Filing App filer ID
  4. Setup your password. Record this with your filer ID so that you have them should you need them in the future.
  5. After logging in, select “Manage My Reports”, and start a new report. Specify the type of report you are filing. Set the appropriate dates for the reporting period. Navigate the data entry pages to enter your reportable activities. Use the application’s Preview Report PDF to generate the PDF copy of your report. Save this PDF file to your local computer system.
  6. Print the PDF report file, then manually fill in the campaign treasurer information. Sign and notarize the report. In lieu of the notary you may attach a completed Form UD as the last page of your report before submitting your report to your local filing authority.
  7. You cannot File your report from TEC’s filing application. Check with your local filing authority to determine if they want a paper copy of the signed and notarized PDF report or an electronically submitted copy of the signed and notarized PDF report.
Logging in the First Time

How to Change Your Profile

How to Change Your Password

How to Check Your Report for Errors

How to File a $0.00 Report