 A Minnesota Administrative Law Judge has ruled that a former candidate for Bemidji City Council must pay a fine of $500 for violating a Minnesota statute that prohibits accepting a campaign contribution in excess of $600 from a committee. Bemidji resident Robert Saxton had filed the campaign complaint against Don Heinenin on October 24th under the Fair Campaign Practices Act. Administrative Law Judge Barbara J. Case ruled on November 5th that there was probable cause in the case and Heinenin filed a written submission on November 7th in which he acknowledged the violation. The violation revolved around a Minnesota statute which prohibits candidates for office whose territory has a population of 100,000 or less from accepting contributions by an individual or committee in excess of $600 in an election year. The city of Bemidji has a population of less than 100,000. Thompson ruled that the definition of committee appeared to be broad enough to include four individuals who equally divided the cost of a website and social media services for Heinenin's campaign. Heinenin was seeking a position on the Bemidji City Council but lost by 35 votes in the November 8th election to former Council member Jim Thompson.