VIDALIA — The challenge to Vidalia Alderwoman Mo Saunders’ candidacy by the state ethics administration will be heard in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday.

A court spokesperson said the appeal, filed by the Louisiana Board of Ethics, will be heard at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The board of ethics had filed an objection to Saunders’ candidacy in Seventh Judicial District Court.

The ethics board’s objection to Saunders’ candidacy was that at the time she qualified for re-election, she had an outstanding fine that had been levied against her after late she filed an annual financial disclosure report for 2013 70 days late.

Judge John Reeves heard the case Monday and issued a ruling Tuesday that allowed Saunders to run provided she paid all outstanding fines and fees within three days of the ruling.

Ethics Administrator Kathleen Allen said Wednesday the board was not filing its appeal because of the fine that was owed.

“Our objection is based on the false certification she made at the time of qualifying that she owed no fines,” Allen said. “She still had an outstanding fine. It is not that (candidates) pay later or pay afterward, at the time they filed, it was a false certification.”

In his ruling, Reeves noted that the state had provided Saunders with a payment plan, and she had already paid $100 of the $1,500 fine, “for which she was never provided a time frame for payment by the (board of ethics) of the remaining balance due.”

Reeves wrote that, “had such a time frame been provided to her, Saunders testified that she would have been compliant therewith and further testified that she is now and has always been willing to pay the said $1,400 delinquency.”

The judge likewise noted Saunders testimony that no one at the ethics board had told her she had to have the plan completed prior to qualifying.

Reeves wrote that the state Supreme Court principle was to favor candidacy and must be liberally construed “as to promote rather than defeat any one person’s candidacy.”

In court earlier this week, Saunders — who represented herself — did not call any witnesses or dispute the ethics board’s evidence, which included a copy of her qualifying form.

The form includes a line that reads, “I do not owe any outstanding fines, fees or penalties pursuant to the Government Code of Ethics.”

“I’ve been in office 18 years, and all I can say is this — I didn’t realize that the fee had to be paid in complete, or I would have made the payment after qualifying,” Saunders said in court.

Saunders did not return a phone message left Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, the ethics administration’s website showed she owed a balance of $1,400.

A different judge — Harry Randow, who was filling in for Judge Kathy Johnson — found Ferriday Alderwoman Somer Lance was ineligible to run for re-election because she owed fines for failure to pay a late fee fine when she qualified.