COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Cleveland law firm donates $5,000 to a county political fund. The amount is above the limit of what the law firm could have given directly to a candidate.

Six weeks later, the county party donates $5,000 to a statewide Republican candidate.

Democrats call the practice organized money laundering. Republicans call it legal and ethical.

The issue has been raised in recent weeks involving donations to Republicans Jim Petro and Joe Deters, running for attorney general and treasurer, respectively, and to Tim Hagan, Democratic candidate for governor.

Petro's Democratic opponent, Leigh Herington, said the pattern of contributions shows that donors could be using the county parties to get around state laws. The state limits candidate donations to $2,500 for groups and $1,000 for individuals or groups doing business with the state.

Ohio Republican Party spokesman Jason Mauk said there's nothing unusual about the contributions.

"Our county party organizations work hard on behalf of our statewide candidates, so it should be no surprise that they regularly make contributions to their campaigns," he said.

David Schultz, a campaign finance expert at Hamline University in Minnesota, said the funneling of contributions through local political parties is on the rise nationally. He said he's seen similar reports in Minnesota, California and Florida.

Schultz said the practice is useful for individuals who want to get around limits on contributions or organizations that want to hide their donations. He dubs it "legal laundering" and said it's becoming prevalent in states with tougher campaign finance laws.

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell said last week he will audit the campaign finance reports of four county Republican parties that Democrats claim are involved in funneling funds to statewide candidates. The organizations are in Clark, Geauga, Mahoning and Montgomery counties.

In one case, Herington points to a Nov. 5 donation of $5,000 made by Cleveland law firm Calfee, Halter and Griswold to the Geauga County Republican Party.

At the time, the party had $790 in its account. On Dec. 15, the party donated $5,000 to Petro, leaving $790 still in its accounts.

Herington called the example an earmarked contribution and said it would be illegal if the firm was trying to get around contribution limits.

Dale LaPorte, chairman of Calfee, Halter and Griswold, said the firm would not comment.

Gary Coberly, chairman of the Geauga County Republican Party, called the claim ludicrous. He said the law firm did not ask that the money be sent to Petro.

"There certainly was no tit for tat," Coberly said.

Party officials overseeing the organization's statewide candidate fund made that decision with no outside influence, Coberly said.

In the case of the Mahoning County Republican Party, Herington pointed to campaign finance reports that showed 17 members of a Columbus law firm each donating $294 to the organization on Jan. 1. With rounding, the donations add up to $5,000.

On Jan. 28, the party sent $5,000 to Petro, Herington said.

Michael Igoe, one of the lawyers at the firm - Carlile, Patchen and Murphy - said his firm wrote a $5,000 check to the county party. He said the party decided to break the donation down by the contributing partners.

Asked why a Columbus law firm donated $5,000 to a northeastern Ohio Republican Party fund, Igoe said: "Because we wanted to."

"We're pretty active politically, I am individually and our law firm is," Igoe added. "We didn't do anything that's illegal and they're trying to make hay out of something that's perfectly legal."

A message seeking comment on the donation was left with the Mahoning County party.

Last week, the Ohio Elections Commission dismissed a complaint accusing the Hamilton County Republican Party of illegally funneling contributions to Deters.

Former state Rep. David Hartley, a Democrat from Springfield, charged that Deters' chief fund-raiser, Eric Sagun, had asked contributors to Deters' short-lived 2001 campaign for attorney general to give money to the party with the expectation that it would go to Deters.

In March, GOP officials attacked Hagan for sending a fund-raising letter in which he asked potential donors to earmark contributions to him through the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.

Hagan contends his books are more open than Republicans' campaign finance reports.