by Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard
August 14, 2026
Washington state Rep. Tarra Simmons was fined $15,000 on Friday by a state ethics panel for improperly using her position to steer public funds to a nonprofit where she worked, and trying to retaliate against the person who initiated the investigation against her.
The Legislative Ethics Board concluded the Bremerton Democrat committed three violations of conflict of interest and special privilege laws, and levied the maximum $5,000 penalty for each. She also must pay the costs of state attorneys.
The board dismissed three other allegations stemming from efforts to help a friend get a job, donating unspent campaign funds to the nonprofit to pay for the friend’s position and working for an organization that received state funding.
The nine-member board issued its 15-page decision Friday afternoon, roughly six weeks after conducting a trial-like proceeding into allegations against Simmons.
Simmons, who adamantly denies wrongdoing, said in a statement that the fine was unfair and excessive given that she had to pursue a hearing to prove three allegations were untrue. She also said she was better off compared to earlier in the case when she had a chance to settle.
“People shouldn’t be excessively punished when they actually prevail,” she said.
Simmons said she is planning to appeal in Thurston County Superior Court, where she can “finally be heard by a non-political entity lacking any personal interest in the outcome of her case, and where the repeated violations of her due process rights will finally be heard.”
The ruling arrives days after the primary election in which Simmons bested a fellow Democrat, Daria Ilgen, by a margin of 57.3% to 39%. The two will face off again in November.
Simmons is seeking a fourth term representing the 23rd Legislative District in Kitsap County that includes the communities of Hansville, Kingston, Poulsbo, Bremerton and Bainbridge Island.
She serves as deputy speaker pro tem, a highly visible role that requires frequently presiding over floor sessions. She’s also garnered national attention as the first formerly incarcerated person to serve in the Legislature.
A complaint filed in February 2025 triggered an investigation that led to Friday’s ruling, which hinged on whether Simmons violated the Ethics in Public Service Act.
Simmons has said she rejected settlement offers in order to defend herself against charges she felt were motivated by personal animus and politics.
The hearing took place in June. During three hours of hearing testimony, she insisted she’s been hypervigilant about complying with the rules since arriving in the Legislature in 2021. She said she was warned that, as the first formerly incarcerated person elected to state office, political foes would look for ways to derail her career.
Questions of improper influence
This case revolved around Simmons’ interactions with two nonprofit organizations: the American Equity and Justice Group and the Equity in Education Coalition.
Two violations are related to a $1 million grant Simmons helped secure in 2024 to support an expansion of a public dashboard of criminal justice data created by the American Equity and Justice Group.
The group was required to subcontract $500,000 of work with a nonprofit organization “that advocates for equity in technology and education to provide the public with data on social determinants that impact education outcomes.”
The only qualifying subcontractor was the Equity in Education Coalition, which focuses on improving education outcomes in disadvantaged communities. Simmons was employed as the coalition’s part-time director of strategy from December 2023 through Jan. 10, 2025, then an additional three months as an independent contractor.
In the June hearing, Assistant Attorney General Julia Eisentrout argued Simmons’ interest in securing the money through a budget proviso, even if it wasn’t financial, conflicted with her official duties as a legislator.
The ethics board agreed, concluding Simmons “personally benefited” because the grant funds supported continued operations of the coalition “and its ability to fund her $120,000 annual salary.”
The second violation stemmed from what the board deemed Simmons improper intervention in a dispute between the two nonprofits, the outcome of which preserved funding for the coalition.
American Equity and Justice Group sought help from the Administrative Office of the Courts because the coalition was not completing tasks required by terms of the grant.
Christopher Stanley, chief financial and management officer of the state agency, spoke with Simmons, then met with the groups and the contract terms were revised. While Stanley testified in the hearing that he did not feel Simmons pressured him, the board still concluded she overstepped.
The board “may infer, and does infer, that Christopher Stanley was improperly influenced by his conversation” with Simmons to ensure that the Equity in Education Coalition continued to receive funding.
In the hearing, Simmons denied influencing Stanley’s decision to direct the parties to amend their agreement but the board concluded she was “not credible.”
Lastly, the board ruled Simmons violated the ethics law by asking Anthony Powers, a friend and the leader of the American Equity and Justice Group, to rein in Kim Gordon, an employee and board member with the nonprofit who filed the complaint against the lawmaker.
Two weeks after Gordon filed her complaint, Simmons engaged Powers in a lengthy late-night text exchange in which she expressed frustration and threatened to withhold support for Powers’ organization.
Simmons “attempted to influence the outcome of the Board’s investigation through her attempted retaliation against the complainant in this matter,” the decision reads.
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