House Ethics: Harrell improperly paid lawyers from campaign

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The House Ethics Committee says former Speaker Bobby Harrell improperly paid his attorneys with campaign money and must pay nearly $113,500.

The committee voted Tuesday to require Harrell to pay the state’s general fund within 30 days. The committee normally requires offenders to reimburse their campaign fund, but Harrell emptied his account under his plea deal.

Ethics Committee Chairman Kenny Bingham says the payments would have been permissible if Harrell had been cleared of wrongdoing. But Bingham says a 2013 committee opinion shows why the conviction made it improper.

That opinion cautions against using campaign cash in personal misconduct cases.

Harrell says Tuesday’s vote violated his due process rights because he had no notice of the meeting.

Harrell resigned last October after pleading guilty to six campaign finance violations.