CHARLESTON,
W.Va. – The West Virginia Ethics Commission issued a public reprimand and
assessed a $5,000 fine as part of a Conciliation (i.e. settlement) Agreement
approved on April 4, 2019.
Sonya
Dingess Porter, Sheriff of Logan County, admitted in the Agreement that she violated
the nepotism provisions of the West Virginia Governmental Ethics Act through
her involvement in 2017 and 2018 in the hiring of her daughter, Iva Adams, as a
Deputy Sheriff. Porter admitted that she was present for part of the physical
agility testing of her daughter, that she participated in her daughter’s
interview, and that she appeared before the Logan County Commission to ask that
it approve her daughter’s hiring.
Porter
also was ordered to undergo training on the Ethics Act as part of the
settlement.
The Conciliation Agreement may be viewed on the Commission’s
website at ethics.wv.gov.