AKRON, Ohio (AP) --
Several elected state officials won't release records of
private phone lines in their offices that they said were used
for campaign and private business but not for fund raising.
The officials said logs for these phones and
other records don't qualify under Ohio's definition of public
documents, the Akron Beacon Journal reported Monday.
Attorney General Betty Montgomery, the state's top law
enforcement official, has two private lines. Secretary of
State Kenneth Blackwell, who is in charge of enforcing
election and campaign law, also has two lines.
``The private lines ... were in fact installed at private
expense in recognition of the fact that they are used for
private purposes which the taxpayers should not bear,''
Blackwell said in a letter.
He said his public job requires working well beyond regular
hours, so he needs a separate line that allows him to
occasionally conduct private business.
``I believe the existing arrangement responsibly and
ethically meets this challenge,'' he said.
Auditor Jim Petro, who documents and tries to prevent the
misuse of public money, has not requested any documentation on
the private phones because he sees no abuse of state tax
dollars, spokeswoman Kim Norris said.
Petro does not have a private phone in his office, although
he carries a cellular phone paid for by his campaign.
Declining to release their records were Montgomery,
Blackwell, Treasurer Joe Deters, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of
the Ohio Supreme Court and members of the Ohio House and
Senate, the newspaper said.
Gov. Bob Taft does not follow the practice of his
predecessor, George Voinovich, who had maintained a private
phone. The governor uses a campaign office a few blocks away
from his downtown office when he has political business, a
spokesman said.
Laura Yeomans, research director for the consumer advocacy
organization Ohio Citizen Action, said public officials should
conduct only public business in their offices.
``The more they mix work and fund raising, the more likely
they are to get into trouble,'' she said.
