Adelanto Councilwoman Stevevonna Evans is on a trajectory to be fined $76,500 by the California Fair Political Practices Commission for having consistently failed to provide accounting for four of her political campaigns going back to her initial election to the city council in 2018.
In their report to the Fair Political Practices Commission for Item 6 on the commission’s November 20, 2025 meeting, Marissa Corona, the senior counsel to the commission, and Jay Gehres, the commission’s special investigator, state that “Stevevonna Evans was a successful candidate for Adelanto City Council in the November 6, 2018 General Election, an unsuccessful candidate for San Bernardino County Board of Supervisor in the March 3, 2020 Primary Election, an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of Adelanto in the November 8, 2022 General Election, a successful candidate for Adelanto City Council in the November 5, 2024 General Election, and is currently in office as a member of the Adelanto City Council. Committee to Elect Stevevonna Evans 2018 Adelanto City Council (the “2018 Committee”) was Evans’ candidate-controlled committee during the November 6, 2018 General Election and Stevevonna Evans for Board of Supervisors 2020 (the “2020 Committee”) was Evan’s candidate-controlled committee during the March 3, 2020 Primary Election. Evans did not establish a candidate-controlled committee for the November 8, 2022, and November 5, 2024 General Elections.”
According to Corona and Gehres, Evans is being charged with 27 total counts of violating various sections of the California Government Code pertaining to accounting for both the money donated to her political war chests and expenditures made from those campaign coffers in support of her electioneering efforts.

The Political Reform Act has been in place since 1974. It set standardized rules on how politicians in California can finance their campaigns for office and requirements with regard to transparency in terms of requiring disclosure of who and what entities are bankrolling candidates campaigns. In addition to imposing mandatory spending limits on candidates for statewide offices and statewide ballot measure committees and requiring lobbyists to register and file reports disclosing their activity expenses, imposing a $10 gift limit on lobbyists, and prohibiting them from making contributions, the act established extensive campaign disclosure laws applicable to not just statewide and local officeholders alike to ensure an informed electorate could vote against candidates with financial ties adverse to the public interest. Additionally, it banned anonymous contributions of $100 or more and enacted laws to curtail incumbent advantage, such as prohibiting mass mailings at public expense.
In conjunction with or as a part of the campaign disclosure requirements, a set of campaign finance reporting documents were created to facilitate the candidates’ reporting of their campaign financing activity and the availability of that campaign financing activity to the public. A basic campaign finance reporting document required by the Political Reform Act in the California Form 460. It is used to disclose all receipts and expenditures of a candidate, candidate campaign or a campaign committee. Candidates or office-holders are required to fill out two 460s for every non-election year while they remain politically active, once covering January 1 to June 30 and the other charting contributions and expendtures from July 1 to December 31, due 31 days after the end of each sixth month reporting period, that is by January 31 and July 31. In an election year in which the candidate or officeholder is vying for election or re-election, he or she must file 460 documents covering fundraising they are doing for a June Primary election on February 2, April 23 and May 21 as well as within 24 hours after receiving a contribution of $1,000 or more. In an election year in which a candidate for election or office-holder running for reelection in a November election must file 460 documents by July 31 showing any contributions coming in from January 1 to June 30; September 26 covering any contributions coming in between July 1 and September 21; by October 23 showing any contributions from September 22 to October 19; by November 1 realating to any donations coming in from October 20 to October 31; and by January 31 of the next year showing any contributions collected between October 30 and December 31. Any contributions of $1,000 or more coming in after July 1 must be reported within 24 hours.
In addition to cataloging whatever contributions they receive from donors and how they spend the money and to whom or what companies or entities they pay out money, they must also report any loans or donations to their campaigns they personally make to their campaign, what loans they receive from other entities or other candidates or officeholders and what donations or loans are made from their campaign reserves to other candidates’ or officeholders’ campaigns.
Candidates, officholders and committees must file their reports with the city clerk or the California or the Secretary of State, depending on what office they are seeking election or reelection to.
According to Corona and Gehres, “The 2018 Committee and Evans failed to timely file ten semi-annual campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200 (4 counts), and six pre-election campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200.5 (6 counts). The 2020 Committee and Evans failed to timely file one 24-Hour Report, in violation of Government Code Section 84203 (1 count), ten semi-annual campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200 (4 counts), and six pre-election campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200.5 (6 counts). Additionally, the 2020 Committee failed to maintain detailed campaign records for contributions received and expenditures made, in violation of Government Code Section 84101 (2 counts). Finally, Evans, as a candidate in the November 8, 2022, and November 5, 2024 General Elections, failed to timely file four pre-election campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200.5 (4 counts).”
Evans and her campaign funds were, Corona and Gehres said, the “subject of an audit performed by the Audit Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission.”
Their report, provided to the Fair Political Practices Commission at its November 20 meeting proposed a total penalty of $76,500 be assessed against Evans.
That amount represents one of the heftiest fines ever made against a local officeholder in California. Other fines assessed on November 20 included one for $6,500 and others for $4,000; $3,748; $400; $400; $200; $800 and $800.
One reason for the steep fine being sough against Evans was the sheer number of counts – failures to report – those being 27. Typically, local politicians who are cited by the Fair Political Practices Commission for reporting violations were rung up for having missed or overshot a single reporting period or a few reporting periods during a single election cycle, typically by failing to file a 24-hour Form 460 relating to a single donor of $1,000 or more. In Evans’ case, she failed to make any disclosure of her fundraising activity and campaign expenditures across entire election cycles. In addition, Evans had given no response whatsoever to comission staff when Gehres and other had sought to engage with her in an effort to address the gaps in information in her file with the Adelanto city clerk’s office, the San Bernardino county Registrar of Voters and the California Secretary of State’s office, and in some fashion assemble the financial details relating to her various campaigns, no matter how imperfect of after the fct.
At the November 20, 2025 commission meeting, in response to a question by Chairman Chair Adam E. Silver, Corona said, Evans “did not reach out to us since this notice of default.”
The board verified that efforts by the commission’s staff to redress the issues pertaining to Evans’ failure to make proper disclosure of her campaign financing had been made and that no resolution of the matter has taken place. The matter is rescheduled to come before the board at its meeting in February, by which time Evans will have been fully and repeatedly apprised of the pending default judgment against her. She thus will have an opportunity until that time to reach some resolution short of the full and finalized imposition of the imposition of the full $76,500 penalty.