A former Wayne County assessor who admitted embezzling about last year was fined $10,000 Thursday by the state Ethics Commission for violations of the Ethics Act.
After deliberating for only about five minutes, commissioners approved the order against Eric Hodges for using his public office for private gain by running up more than $50,000 of purchases of goods and services for his personal use on two county-issued credit cards during the summer of 2015.
According to testimony at a March 21 Ethics Commission hearing, the illegal purchases -- which first came to light when the state auditor's office notified Wayne County officials of unusual transactions on Hodges' local government purchasing card -- included purchases at Classic Liquors, Down Home Grill, Elk Springs Resort, Mid-State Marina, Bergoo Bait and Tackle, Charlie's Harley Davidson, Corner Liquor and Wine, Smoke Time Sams, and Living Art Studios.
Hodges resigned as assessor on Oct. 9, 2015. On Jan. 21, 2016, he pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement in Wayne Circuit Court. He was sentenced in March 2016 to five years' probation, and was ordered to pay restitution and forfeit items purchased with county funds, including an all terrain vehicle.
On Thursday, in addition to imposing a $10,000 fine and ordering Hodges to reimburse the commission for $1,908 in costs of prosecuting his case, the Ethics Commission ordered that a public reprimand be issued against Hodges. Commissioners also ordered that Hodges complete ethics training before seeking public sector employment or public office in the future.
Also during Thursday's Ethics Commission meeting:
| Commissioners debated at length how to enforce legislation passed in 2016 expanding the so-called trinkets law, which prohibits use of public funds to disseminate public officials' names and images to include educational materials.
After extended discussion, commissioners ruled that a state agency's annual informational publication may not include the name or image of the governor, the agency director, commissioners, or section chiefs - since all were determined to be public officials.
The trinkets law makes an exception to the ban on publishing the names and images of public officials for official reports, and commissioners debated whether the publication in question was educational material or an annual report.
"I really am in a quandary over this whole issue," Commissioner Larry Tweel said. "You could go either way. Do we err on one side or the other?"
However, Commissioner Betty Ireland raised concerns that if the commission concluded that the agency publication could be considered a report, it could create a loophole to allow other agencies to include officials' names and images in their publications.
She said the discussion Thursday shows that the Legislature needs to spell out more precise definitions for what constitutes reports as well as educational materials.
"Let's hope this gets somebody's attention to fix it," Ireland said.
| Commissioners granted employment exemptions for six state employees, including Elbert Lin, solicitor general to Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
The exemptions allow state employees to seek employment with regulated private sector entities while continuing to be employed by the state.
Others granted exemptions include J. Leah Cooper, director of financial conditions, Insurance Commission; David L. Vande Linde, permit supervisor, Division of Mining and Reclamation; Douglas Boone, environmental inspector specialist, Department of Environmental Protection; Truman Sayre Jr., chief administrative law judge, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review; and Jeremiah Carter, environmental inspector, DEP.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304 348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.