Ethics complaint filed against El Paso City Council member Cassandra Hernandez

EL PASO, Texas -- An ethics complaint has been filed against District 3 El Paso city Rep. Cassandra Hernandez.

The complaint alleges Hernandez illegally solicited campaign donations because she allegedly failed to file the appropriate documents for a new campaign treasurer.

The complaint was filed by local attorney Casey Williams.

According to the complaint, Williams alleged that Hernandez campaign treasurer Norma Alvarado was terminated based off a subsequent final campaign finance report from 2018.

"The complaint, public record, further states that the donations were illegal since 'Ms. Hernandez filed a final campaign finance report with the Texas Ethics Commission on January 16th, 2018' and never filed for a new campaign treasurer, effectively terminating her campaign treasurer and making any contributions to her campaign illegal," Williams said in a statement sent to ABC-7.

Hernandez said Sunday that she takes these allegations seriously.

She added that throughout her campaign she has filed the appropriate documentation to seek reelection.

According to Hernandez, she did file an Appointment of Campaign Treasurer Form with the Texas Ethics Commission back in 2017.

"Elected officials do not have to refile every single time," Hernandez said.

"I also communicated with the City Clerk when I first applied to put my name of the ballot, 'do you need to transfer it' and she said, 'no, you don't need to do anything different so I made sure I inquired with the City Clerk but also I looked at the rules and it says your campaign treasurer does not expire unless you say it's expired and you file the appropriate documentation," Hernandez said.

Hernandez is seeking re-election to represent District 3 on the El Paso City Council on the November 5 ballot.