It's financial disclosure season.

Every year, many state and local public officers and employees receive automatic fines because they file their annual financial disclosure forms late or not at all.

Annual financial disclosure must be filed or postmarked no later than September 1 to avoid automatic fines of [dollar]25 per day, said Virlindia Doss, executive director of the Florida Commission on Ethics.

Doss said since many lawyers are either officials who must file themselves, or serve as advisors to boards whose members are required to file, she wants all members of the Bar to know that the annual financial disclosure forms must be filed or postmarked no later than September 1 to avoid the...