The Secretary of State's Office relies on an honor system when it comes to scrutinizing candidates' use of public campaign funds, a spokesman has said, and it has never audited their spending reports.

Furthermore, in the three weeks since Public Regulation Commission candidate Jerome Block Jr., a Democrat, admitted lying about his handling of $2,500 in public money, Secretary Mary Herrera's office has reviewed just two documents: Block's e-mail to a newspaper in which he admitted lying about the expenditure and Block's written explanation for the mishandling he submitted last week.

The office's inquiry hasn't included gathering other papers, such as copies of checks or campaign receipts, spokesman James Flores said Tuesday. "That's all we've done. It's a due-process issue," he said.

On Oct. 2, The New Mexican tried to get a copy of the canceled $2,500 check from Block, using the state Inspection of Public Records Act.

"I am not going to be able to look into this until Monday," Block said by BlackBerry, referring to Oct. 6.

Block never provided a copy of the check, and lawyers familiar with open-records law say he might not have to, something that concerns open-government advocates. Even though a candidate's checks represent use of public money, open-records law doesn't explicitly say the public has a right to see them.

"Looking at the statute's definition, particularly of public records, I don't see a good argument for getting that under the Inspection of Public Records Act," said Kip Purcell, president of the Foundation for Open Government. "But I'm not an expert on campaign-finance laws."

FOG executive committee member Pat Rogers said the Block case shows public campaign-finance laws might need more teeth. "If the secretary of state and the attorney general do not have the authority to require actual bank records, including checks and receipts, that is a problem in the statute," said Rogers, who is also a member of the Republican National Committee. "The use of public money needs to be a particularly transparent process if the taxpayer has to continue funding political campaigns."

Steve Allen, the executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, a government-reform nonprofit that sought public campaign-financing law, said he wasn't sure how public-record law applied to public-funding issues in Block's case. "I definitely think the SOS should have access to (checks), and I'm surprised they wouldn't have requested that already," he said.

The information on Block's check — the date, who he specifically wrote it to, whether it includes a memo and when it was cashed — would help fill a timeline.

Block said he paid the band Wyld Country to perform at a May 3 rally in the Las Vegas, N.M., area. San Miguel County Clerk Paul Maez is a band member and longtime friend of Block's.

Block's expenditure report — his final one involving how he spent primary campaign funds — lists the expenditure date as June 9 — six days after Block won a six-way Democratic primary.

Maez told the Las Vegas Optic on Sept. 24 that he cashed the check right away and gave the money back to Block in cash. Also on Sept. 24, Block sent an e-mail to the Optic admitting he lied about the band's performance.

On Sept. 26, Block went to the Secretary of State's Office with a check and repaid the state.

However, on Tuesday, in his first financial statement for the general election, Block dated the refund from Wyld Country as Sept. 26 — contradicting Maez's statement that the clerk returned the money last spring.

Efforts to reach Block were unsuccessful.

In his statement, Block attributed his false statements about the rally to "negligence" and said he had planned to have the band play before the primary after the May 3 performance was canceled.

The Secretary of State's Office has been deciding how to proceed. Its options include imposing civil fines, forwarding the case to the Attorney General's Office for criminal investigation and finding no wrongdoing.

AG spokesman Phil Sisneros said his office officially received on Tuesday from the Secretary of State's Office a copy of Block's explanation, and lawyers are reviewing it.

Block's opponent, Green Party member Rick Lass, helped lobby the Legislature for passage of the Voter Action Act, which included public money for PRC candidates. "First, it is clearly illegal to use primary funds for the general election under the campaign financing law," Lass said in a recent statement. "(Block's) campaign finance report of July 3 shows he made the payment June 9, after the primary election was held."

Lass said Tuesday the Voter Action Act doesn't outline whether the secretary of state can demand expenditure-related papers and acknowledged the law relies on an honor system. However, he said, the Voter Action Act gives Herrera, a Democrat, clear authority to investigate and levy civil fines or refer the case for criminal investigation.

"There's a lot of people watching Mary right now," Lass said. "She's going to face a tough re-election if she doesn't enforce the law."

The Voter Action Act says knowingly making a false statement in a report is a fourth-degree felony and requires candidates who violate the act to return all their public funding. Block has received $101,508 in public campaign funds for both the primary and general election, while Lass, who didn't run in a primary, received $64,778.

Contact Doug Mattson at 986-3087 or dmattson@sfnewmexican.com.