The state's financial disclosure form doesn't ask for too much information from candidates for office. Reporting sources of income, property ownership and the source of debt or gifts is enough.

But as simple as the document is, most candidates don't bother to heed the state law requiring its filing.

In fact, none of the five major candidates for governor have filed the form, which was due May 22.

The two leading candidates for the state's top law enforcement job haven't filed yet. Just one of the three candidates to be the state's campaign finance steward bothered to meet the requirement.

Here in Clark County, only half of the candidates vying to be the next sheriff are paying attention to the law -- and one of the front-runners who did file disclosed a huge gift from a man with ties to briber extraordinaire Mike Galardi. More on that in a bit.

The financial disclosure form doesn't tell us anything about who is funding the candidate's campaign or how the candidate is spending his war chest. But it is a key component to understanding an official's conflicts.

If you don't know who a candidate works for, you can't determine whether that person, if elected, will make decisions that benefit his company or colleagues -- or himself. If you don't know who has loaned money or provided gifts to a candidate, how can you know if an action is a favor in disguise?

With all the public's professed disgust over the recently concluded G-Sting trial and the bribes paid to county commissioners, you'd think candidates would be extra careful to mind campaign laws.

State law requires candidates seeking an office that provides annual compensation of $6,000 or more to submit a financial disclosure by May 22. The $6,000 threshold was used to weed out TV districts and other small-time offices that don't pay the office holder a real salary.

Last I checked, the governor makes $117,000. Gubernatorial candidates had filed some forms this year, but not by the May 22 requirement. State Sen. Bob Beers, Rep. Jim Gibbons and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, all Republicans, each filed the annual disclosure back in January that is required for all office holders in the state. Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, filed the same paperwork with the secretary of state in January.

Titus and primary opponent Jim Gibson also filed voluntary disclosures -- as requested by Secretary of State Dean Heller -- to show how much cash on hand their campaigns had at the end of 2005. Heller can only ask candidates to do this because state law doesn't require reporting of cash on hand.

While Titus and Gibson should be commended for going the extra step, they still didn't meet the requirement of the law. And even if the disclosure was redundant, being an elected official doesn't let them skirt the law.

Down ticket, the top two candidates for attorney general, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican Don Chairez, a former judge, didn't file.

In the secretary of state race, Republican Brian Scroggins filed properly, while primary opponent Danny Tarkanian and Democrat Ross Miller did not.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger knows the law and followed it by filing a financial disclosure to meet the May 22 deadline. It's identical to the one he filed in January to meet the annual requirement for current office holders. DA candidates Frank Cremen and Patrick Ferguson didn't file.

In the sheriff's race, Joe Castillo, Earl Davis II, Doug Gillespie, Scott Karkos, Larry Kepler, Joe Lawlor III, John Murdoch and Michael Thomas filed, proving even some first-time candidates can get it right.

Sometimes, a candidate must report information he might not want the public to know. Lawlor gets credit for reporting his unemployment.

Gillespie, the current undersheriff, reported on time -- with information that could become a campaign liability. Gillespie reported receiving a $6,664 trip to Greece provided by Galardi's former tax attorney, George Kelesis. Gillespie said he and his wife received the trip as a Christmas gift from Kelesis, whom Gillespie first met about 15 years ago when he needed a tax man to help him set up a fund for Metro's K-9 unit. Kelesis hoped to meet the Gillespies in his native Greece this July. Gillespie reported the gift even though he hasn't taken the trip yet. Because of the campaign, he might not redeem the tickets.

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to use them," he said.

But his disclosure of the gift is critical to the public's perception of his integrity -- and his potential conflicts with Kelesis, a member of the state Tax Commission. The other top candidate in the sheriff's race, Bill Conger, didn't file.

The penalty for filing late is a measly $25, provided the candidate submits the form within 10 days of the deadline. The penalty gradually increases over time.

The secretary of state's office can only enforce that the forms are filed. But that in itself is proving to be a Herculean task this cycle as candidates continue to thumb their noses at the public's right to know.

Erin Neff's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.