'78 Opinion a Factor in Clay Case?

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A Florida attorney general's opinion in 1978 indicates that Clay

County Clerk John Keene should not have used public money to pay

a substantial portion of a $60,000 legal bill he ran up after he

was accused of ethics violation.

Most of the legal bill -- $42,000 -- was incurred when Keene

tried to recoup $5,900 he spent defending himself in front of

the Florida Ethics Commission. The 1978 opinion says the Florida

Legislature never intended public officials to be reimbursed for

pursuing their own legal actions before the commission.

While the Attorney General's Office has not researched the

specifics in Keene's case, the 1978 …