Topeka ? Rep. Patricia Kilpatrick was given a $45,000 fine Wednesday by the state Governmental Ethics Commission for misusing campaign funds in 2005, the second time she’s been fined by the panel this year.

Kilpatrick, R-Overland Park, didn’t appear before the commission. But her attorney, Scott Hattrup of Olathe, said Kilpatrick’s former fiance gained access to her campaign accounts and took the money without her knowledge.

Kilpatrick, a one-term member of the Kansas House, didn’t seek re-election in November.

The commission accepted a consent decree in which Kilpatrick acknowledged the allegations in a commission complaint accusing her of mingling campaign funds with personal funds, converting campaign funds to personal use, failing to report contributions and failing to keep detailed campaign finance records. She faced up to $120,000 in fines.

“She’s the one ultimately responsible under the law,” Hattrup said. “It’s still on her.”

Under the decree, the commission agreed not to refer the matter to prosecutors for possible criminal action and said she could set up a payment schedule for the fine.

The commission in June fined Kilpatrick $4,000 after concluding she filed an inaccurate finance report for her 2004 campaign. She has paid $750 of that so far.

Previously, the highest fine levied by the commission was $15,000 in 2003 against a Wichita business for illegal campaign contributions.

In the decree, Kilpatrick “acknowledges the level of intent amounts to civil negligence, but not criminal liability.”

Commission investigator Bill Beightel said $6,400 in campaign contributions were deposited in campaign accounts that were drained but she reported $180 in campaign expenditures for 2005. He said she signed checks to pay such things as rent, cable television, a bookstore and a coffee shop.

“We have nine counts she’s admitted to and these are very serious violations,” commission chairwoman Sabrina Standifer said. “The public has to have trust in our campaigns. The message is you can’t take campaign contributions and use them to pay your cable bill.”

Hattrup said he was disappointed by the decision announced after a 20-minute closed-door session to discuss how much the fine should be.

“It’s shockingly high. The commission didn’t take Representative Kilpatrick’s circumstances into consideration,” Hattrup said. “She didn’t set out to deceive contributors. She thought the money was in the account.”

In the earlier case, Kilpatrick said she made a mistake in the wake of leaving an abusive relationship with her former fiance and “operated in a fog for a long time.”

During the 2006 legislative session, Kilpatrick she was a vocal supporter of a proposal imposing a minimum 25-year prison sentence of adult sexual offenders who victimize children.

She decided not to seek re-election after taking a job with a Florida criminal justice foundation, only to give it up after a few weeks.