Since 2003, political donors have reported giving former Rep. Ron Sailor Jr. more than $25,000 that he never disclosed as required by law, a review of state campaign finance records shows.

Evidence of Sailor's failure to disclose the money was readily available in reports in state regulators' files, but officials did not investigate until launching an audit late last year.

Sailor, 33, a Democrat, resigned after pleading guilty Tuesday to money laundering. Federal prosecutors said he is cooperating with another investigation into public corruption.

Rick Thompson, executive secretary of the State Ethics Commission, said new software and random auditing, as well as increased staffing, will make it much harder for elected officials to abuse state ethics law in the future.

"We are working to become more proactive, rather than reactive," Thompson said. "That is a change for the commission."

In 2006 and 2007, political committees reported 18 contributions to Sailor, totaling $5,850. Sailor declared none of them, records show.

From October 2003 through December 2005, committees and other politicians reported 53 contributions to Sailor totaling $20,025, records show. Donors included campaign committees for Bank of America, Realtors, the textile industry and House Speaker Terry Coleman. During that same period, Sailor reported just $2,200 in donations, including money from Coleman and the textile group. He still has not filed six campaign reports. A reporter found the undeclared donations to Sailor on Wednesday using the commission's Web site to search campaign records.

Sailor did not return calls seeking comment.

State law requires candidates to file regular disclosures for their campaigns and their personal finances. The campaign reports are supposed to show how much elected officials raise, who gave money to them and how they spent it. Financial reports are supposed to list property holdings and sources of income.

Knowingly filing a false campaign report is a misdemeanor. No one has ever been convicted under that provision, Thompson said.

For years, Sailor has flouted campaign finance laws and paid little for it, records show. The Ethics Commission finally opened its audit and fined him $1,225 in late fees on Nov. 29.

Sailor paid the fine within a few days, but now owes another $125 for two more late reports.

Thompson said the commission's inaction regarding Sailor arose from understaffing and lack of computer software to track filings.

"We weren't able to easily tell who hadn't filed," he said.

The commission previously handled mostly paper reports, which overwhelmed the small staff, Thompson said. Also, before 2006, candidates submitted reports to another state agency, making it harder for the commission to check for compliance.

Thompson said he took the helm of the commission in 2006 with a budget of $600,000 and a staff of six. Now he has a $1.7 million budget and 19 employees.

In the past few months, the staff has begun to audit campaign disclosures for accuracy. Auditors may also look into how officials reported financial interests.

"Somebody's not going to be able to be a non-filer in the future," he said. "It's just not going to happen."

The commission's ongoing investigation of Sailor could result in more fines or criminal prosecution, he said.

Sailor, who had represented parts of DeKalb and Rockdale counties since 2001, was arrested in December for agreeing to launder $375,000 for a person he believed was a drug dealer. The person was an undercover officer working under the direction of the FBI.

Sailor admitted guilt and began cooperating in the investigation, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Tuesday. Sailor has provided "useful information in opening windows into public corruption we were unaware of before his cooperation," Nahmias said.