A pro-judicial independence political action committee is taking heat for failing to disclose its efforts targeting two Republican legislators who have sponsored bills to reshape Utah’s court system.

The Checks and Balances PAC raised more than $70,000 in the first four months of the year and recently sent out mailers supporting the opponents of state Rep. Jordan Teuscher and Sen. Brady Brammer, who are both facing Republican primary challengers this year.

Brammer and Teuscher have asked the lieutenant governor’s office, which oversees campaign finance in Utah, to investigate the PAC’s failure to file the required financial disclosure, after it sent mailers to voters in their districts supporting their Republican opponents in next week’s primary election.

The PAC did miss the April 18 filing deadline due to health issues, the group’s chair told The Salt Lake Tribune, but submitted the required disclosure on June 10 — and its donors include a long list of prominent attorneys and a former Supreme Court justice.

“Checks and Balances PAC is dedicated to supporting Republican candidates who uphold an independent, impartial judiciary and the rule of law,” Alex Dorius, the board chair of the Checks and Balances PAC, said. “That commitment reflects a basic belief in constitutional government and the separation of powers. … Checks and Balances PAC will continue supporting Republican candidates who believe no branch of government should be above accountability.”

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said in a statement, “Our office received the disclosure report from the Checks and Balances PAC after the filing deadline, and they will be assessed the standard fine for a late filing.”

The fine is $1,000, under state law.

“During our time in office, Sen. Brammer and I have successfully reformed the courts to limit judicial overreach,” Teuscher said in a statement. “We are now being attacked by liberal activists who want the courts to stop conservative policy they don’t agree with.”

The lawmakers have sponsored bills that changed how judges are evaluated and how cases are handled by the courts.

They are also the two Republican members on the Judicial Conduct Commission, who would have legally had access to the JCC’s preliminary inquiry into dismissed allegations against now-former Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen. Under state law, the findings are confidential, but were released to the media through an open records request to the Utah House of Representatives.

The JCC is conducting an investigation into how that release happened and how to prevent it in the future. Brammer and Teuscher have said they were not responsible for the release of the report.

Hagen resigned after Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Spencer Cox called for an investigation into the complaint, stemming from claims by Hagen’s ex-husband that the former justice had an inappropriate relationship with a prominent Utah lawyer. Hagen said she wanted to spare her loved ones the intrusion of an investigation.

Donors to the PAC include former Associate Chief Justice John Pearce; Cheylynn Hayman, who chairs the JCC; former appellate court judge Fred Voros; Elizabeth Wright, the executive director of the Utah State Bar; Jacey Skinner, a lobbyist for the state bar; and Katherine Reymann, the spouse of David Reymann, an attorney whom Hagen was alleged to have had an improper relationship.

The bar said in a statement that the donations by Wright and Skinner were their own, individual contributions and “not on behalf of the Utah State Bar.”

“Their contributions were made in good faith as Utahns who are committed to the principles of separation of powers, judicial independence and civic engagement,” the bar said in a statement. “Their personal donations should not be construed as action by, or attributable to, the Utah State Bar.”

The complaint from the Republican lawmakers was triggered by mailers that the Checks and Balances PAC sent to voters in their district. The mailer sent to Brammer’s constituents highlighted the senator’s donations from corporations and lobbyists and said he “works for political insiders, not your family.”

Teuscher is currently in a primary against Scott Stephenson, the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, who was active in an effort to repeal Teuscher’s bill that banned local governments from negotiating contracts with public employee unions. After labor groups gathered enough signatures to put the repeal on the ballot, the Legislature repealed the bill.

Brammer is facing a challenge from Kelly Smith, a retired educator and Cedar Hills city council member.

Recently, both Stephenson and Smith filed amendments to their financial disclosure reports — Stephenson’s to reflect more than $6,000 in signature gathering support by the Checks and Balances PAC, and Smith disclosed more than $14,600 in signature gathering assistance.

Stephenson said he amended his financial filing last week when his campaign was notified of the final total for the signature gathering services it received from Checks and Balances.

“My opponents are welcome to spend the last week of the campaign talking about amended paperwork,” Smith said. “I’m going to spend it talking to voters about housing costs, property taxes and the issues families in this district are actually raising at their doors.”

The Checks and Balances PAC, also known as the Rule of Law PAC, was formed late last year amid a flurry of legislative proposals targeting the courts. The Legislature passed those efforts after a series of rulings that went against the Republican lawmakers’ legislative agenda.