(A) No candidate for or person intending to become a candidate for the Public Service Commission may seek, directly or indirectly, the pledge of a member of the General Assembly’s vote or contact, directly or indirectly, a member of the General Assembly regarding screening for the Public Service Commission, until: (1) the qualifications of all candidates for that office have been determined by the State Regulation of Public Utilities Review Committee, and (2) the review committee has formally released its report as to the qualifications of all candidates for the office to the General Assembly. For purposes of this section, "indirectly seeking a pledge" means the candidate, or someone acting on behalf of and at the request of the candidate, requests a person to contact a member of the General Assembly on behalf of the candidate before nominations are formally made by the review committee. The prohibitions of this section do not extend to an announcement of candidacy by the candidate or statement by the candidate detailing the candidate’s qualifications.

(B) No member of the General Assembly may offer his pledge until: (1) the qualifications of all candidates for the Public Service Commission have been determined by the State Regulation of Public Utilities Review Committee, and (2) the review committee has formally released its report as to the qualifications of its nominees to the General Assembly. The formal release of the report of qualifications must occur no earlier than forty-eight hours after the names of nominees have been initially released to members of the General Assembly.

(C) No member of the General Assembly may trade anything of value, including pledges to vote for legislation or for other candidates, in exchange for another member’s pledge to vote for a candidate for the Public Service Commission.

(D)(1) Violations of this section may be considered by the State Regulation of Public Utilities Review Committee when it considers the candidate’s qualifications.

(2) Violations of this section by members of the General Assembly must be reported by the review committee to the House or Senate Ethics Committee, as may be applicable.

(3) Violations of this section by incumbent commissioners seeking reelection must be reported by the Public Service Commission to the State Ethics Commission.

A violation of this section is a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, the violator must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ninety days. Cases tried under this section may not be transferred from general sessions court pursuant to § 22-3-545.