Audit says state cars can't be used for political purposes

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State law doesn't allow elected officials to use their state vehicles for personal or political trips, even if they reimburse the state, Democratic State Auditor Susan Montee said Tuesday.

Montee's assertions were part of an audit of Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who has reimbursed the state for driving his car on nonofficial state business.

But the audit also has implications for Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon, who has used his state car for personal and political trips on the justification that it was necessary for security.

On Friday, Nixon's gubernatorial campaign committee wrote a $47,022 check to reimburse the state for taking his state vehicle and attorney general's office staff on political trips.

Michael Keathley, the administration commissioner for Republican Gov. Matt Blunt, notified Nixon's campaign Tuesday that he was refusing to deposit the check until he receives documentation for how the reimbursement was calculated.

Nixon campaign spokesman Oren Shur responded that Blunt was "instructing the Office of Administration to do his political dirty work" and was setting a different standard for Nixon than for Kinder.

The Associated Press has previously reported that Missouri law prohibits the use of state vehicles for anything other than official business, and Montee noted that in her audit. She also noted no state law allows the nonofficial use of state vehicles so long as reimbursement is paid.

'It's pretty clear here'

Kinder had received advance approval from the state Office of Administration to reimburse the state for his personal and political use of the state vehicle. But Kinder was following bad advice, Montee said.

"I think it's pretty clear here that the law says you don't use it" for personal or political purposes, Montee said. "I think it's very clear that there is no authority in the law that would have allowed OA to make that policy."

The Office of Administration, however, continued to assert Tuesday that officials could use their government vehicles for personal and political trips and then reimburse the state. The agency pointed to a state law directing the office to issue policies on the purchase, use and maintenance of state vehicles.

Administration Commissioner Michael Keathley accused Montee of "playing politics with the audit" by looking into Kinder's state vehicle but not Nixon's.

Montee said Kinder's vehicle use came up during a routine audit of the office, and she does not plan to initiate a special audit of Nixon before the attorney general's office again comes up for a routine audit, likely in 2009.

Montee's audit suggests that if the state intends to allow officials to use state resources for anything other than business purposes, then it should adopt legislation clearly allowing the practice.

Kinder's office has said his campaign paid $5,757 to the state in September 2006 as reimbursement for state vehicle mileage on nonofficial trips during the previous 12 months.

Auditors later discovered that Kinder overpaid the state, and that excess money was used to offset additional mileage reimbursements. But the calculation of that credit also was botched. As a result, Kinder's campaign paid the state an additional $1,273 last week to cover personal and political use of his state vehicle through Aug. 31, according to documents provided to The Associated Press by Kinder's office.

Since mid-July, Kinder has been using a pickup truck leased by his campaign for political events, the lieutenant governor's office said.

Nixon's campaign announced Friday that he would begin using a vehicle leased by his campaign to travel to political events, instead of his state car.

Kinder's use of his state car was the only problem cited in the audit.

Kinder said in a written statement that he was "delighted" Montee had given his office "a clean bill of health."

Kinder also said he would support legislative efforts to clarify laws on the use of state vehicles and other government resources for non-official purposes. But he took no position on whether that should be banned or allowed with reimbursement.

Republican Gov. Matt Blunt also travels in state vehicles -- driven by Missouri State Highway Patrol officers -- to political and personal events. But a 2005 state law specifically requires the patrol to provide security and transportation to the governor -- a mandate that doesn't exist for other statewide elected officials.

When he travels by air, Blunt usually uses private planes paid for by his campaign, instead of state airplanes.

Audits dating back to the early 1970s have questioned the political use of state airplanes by former Govs. Warren Hearnes, Kit Bond and Joseph Teasdale. Those audits found the political flights weren't authorized by state law and also suggested that governors weren't reimbursing the state for the full cost of the plane trips.

Past audits also have cited former Attorney General Bill Webster, former Secretary of State Roy Blunt and former Secretary of State Judi Moriarty for allowing state resources to be used for political or personal purposes