A special Student Association committee spent a week reviewing whether Attorney General Aaron Rice and Elections Commissioner Stuart Tirey had committed improprieties in the SA treasurer race.The committee concluded Monday night that there was no evidence of unethical behavior on either Rice or Tirey’s parts.
The committee also determined that Assistant Attorney General David Breland performed unconstitutional actions.
Rice is running for SA president. The elections will be held Feb. 20.
Rice said he was pleased to have his name cleared.
“That’s what’s so great about the way the Student Association works is that I was given a fair chance to tell my side of the story,” he said.
Investigative committee member and SA senator Lauren Green said the question of impropriety was based on a number of rumors.
“It’s kind of a ‘he said, she said’ thing,” Green said. “There’s no hard-core evidence that anyone did anything intentionally wrong.”
Rice declined to comment on the rumors.
At Monday’s SA meeting, he told the investigative committee, “I know you looked at it very closely and very seriously and knew that people’s character and integrity were on the line.”
The controversy involved George Harris and Will Moon, former candidates for SA treasurer. Both were disqualified from the race because they hadn’t completed the required six credits in accounting.
Because the two men were disqualified, the position of treasurer will be open after the upcoming election and will be filled by the new president, said Sam Harris, member of the SA History and Tradition Council and senator emeritus.
The investigative committee concluded that neither Rice nor Tirey told the former treasurer candidates they were eligible to run. Rice is only mandated to advise potential candidates on their eligibility if they submit a written request, the committee said. Neither Harris nor Moon presented Rice with a written request.
Rice abstained from making decisions related to the election, as he felt it was a conflict of interest, the committee said. Breland took over Rice’s duties relating to the election, and he was the one who incorrectly told Harris and Moon they were eligible to run for treasurer, the committee said.
The committee concluded that Breland acted unconstitutionally regarding the treasurer race and said the SA senate will have to determine whether they will take disciplinary action.
Rice granted Breland power of attorney general in SA election decisions. The SA Judicial Council found it was within the SA constitution for Rice to delegate election duties to the assistant attorney general.
Investigative committee member W.C. McClendon said Breland did not violate the constitution intentionally.
“A few unconstitutional things happened because he didn’t know the full range of his job,” McClendon said.
Green said there is a lot of gray area in the SA constitution.
“We have a weak constitution. There’s a lot of room for interpretation,” she said. “We’re going to propose some bills to fix that.