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NEW CUMBERLAND -- A local county commissioner is facing a fine and ethics training following an agreement with the West Virginia Ethics Commission over the county's use of his private business.
A conciliation agreement between the Ethics Commission and Hancock County Commissioner Jeff Davis will result in Davis paying a fine of $2,000, receiving a public reprimand and having to go through training on the West Virginia Governmental Ethics Act, according to a copy of an order issued by the Ethics Commission, signed Feb. 7.
The agreement follows a complaint over the county's use of Water World Inc., a car wash owned by Davis, primarily for vehicles with the Hancock County Sheriff's Department as well as occasionally for the county Auditor's Office.
The agreement notes the county had been using Water World since before Davis was first elected to office in 2001. The practice ended June 30, 2017, it states.
The order notes the state Ethics Act, "prohibits public officials from voting on matters in which they or a business with which they are associated has a financial interest. Proper recusal from voting requires a public official to excuse him or herself from participating in the discussion and decision-making process by physically removing him or herself from the room during the period, fully disclosing his or her interests, and recusing him or herself from voting on the issue."
The order futher notes Davis, "did not physically remove himself from the meeting room or fully disclose his interests in the payments to Water World. He also voted to approve these payments to Water World by a general vote to approve all invoices for the payment period."
The case was referred by the Ethics Commission to the Hancock County Prosecutor's Office on April 5, 2018 for investigation. Through a special prosecutor, an agreement was reached in which Davis would pay restitution of $29,487.35, representing the county's payments to Water World between Jan. 10, 2013 to June 30, 2017. In exchange, it was agreed Davis would not be prosecuted.
The Ethics Commission was notified Aug. 1, 2018 the restitution had been paid in full, the report states.
The payment of the fine and the ethics training must be completed by March 1, according to the order.