Commissioner Olson-Boseman says she has now paid fines, filed overdue campaign finance paperwork

For years, Julia Olson-Boseman, currently chair of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, had failed to register as the treasurer of her campaign committee, take mandatory training, file campaign finance reports — and to pay over $2,000 in fines. On Monday morning, Olson-Boseman said she was correcting those issues.

Commissioner Olson-Boseman says she has now paid fines, filed overdue campaign finance paperwork

By Ben Schachtman

Published: Apr. 25, 2022 at 5:12 PM EDT

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WHQR) - Issues with Olson-Boseman’s campaign committee stem back to 2018 when her treasurer became ill (and later passed away in 2021). Over the next several years, she failed to file five separate reports.

Related: Despite years of unfiled reports and unpaid fines, NCSBE fails to take action against Julia Olson-Boseman

The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) issued $2,300 in fines but Olson-Boseman never paid them. Despite state laws requiring that NSCBE shut down non-compliant committees — and take civil action to recover unpaid fines — NCSBE never took action. Olson-Boseman’s committee was labeled ‘non-compliant,’ but remained active heading into the 2022 election season. A spokesperson for NSCBE said that was because such actions are prohibitively costly and time-consuming.

Today, Olson-Boseman wrote in an email, “[a]ll 5 reports were filed this morning, check for fine was mailed and mandatory training is complete. I’ve updated my address with the State Board of Elections.”

Olson-Boseman, who had previously stated that her campaign was searching for a new treasurer, added, “I have not been able to find a treasurer so I just did it myself.”

The North Carolina State Board of Elections confirmed that Olson-Boseman had completed the “Campaign Finance Mandatory Compliance Training.” The New Hanover County Board of Elections confirmed Olson-Boseman had filed five missing reports — which are now loaded on the county’s BOE site.

Olson-Boseman’s filings state that her cash-on-hand balance has remained $548.60 for several years and that her committee has not received any campaign donations or disbursed any funds since at least 2019.

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