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Helen Jones-KelleyClick to enlarge

COLUMBUS — Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and former head of that department in Montgomery County, has been placed on paid administrative leave by Gov. Ted Strickland.

Strickland said on Friday, Nov. 7, that he took the action "due to the possibility, as yet unconfirmed, that a state computer or state e-mail account was used to assist in political fund raising."

"I have asked Inspector General Tom Charles to include this matter in his current, ongoing investigation," Strickland said in a press release.

Strickland said he has asked Jan Allen, his cabinet secretary, to serve as acting director of the agency.

Charles already was investigating reports that a department computer was used to gather personal information about "Joe the Plumber" — Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher of suburban Toledo — after Wurzelbacher emerged as a key figure in the presidential race in Ohio. The information included whether he owed child support, which he said he didn't.

He criticized Democrat Barack Obama's tax plan and endorsed Republican John McCain.

Charles is investigating whether such use of a state computer is legal. Jones-Kelley said there was nothing wrong with the check and suggested it was common practice for her department to do research on Ohioans in the news.

An Ohio Highway Patrol trooper was stationed at the end of Jones-Kelley's driveway in Clayton on Friday night. He declined to allow a reporter to approach Jones-Kelley's home.

Strickland, a Democrat, has said that so far he had received no information to suggest that any state employee either accessed or disclosed information in an inappropriate or improper way.

The new development drew a charge of cover-up from Kevin DeWine, deputy chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.

"Gov. Strickland showed poor judgment by rushing to defend these questionable practices before getting all the facts," DeWine said in a press release. "And his decision to wait until five o'clock on a Friday afternoon after the election to take action smacks of a cover-up."

DeWine said "it's completely unacceptable that his administration has apparently turned state government into a giant political party machine."