Former state House Page Coordinator Ann Lassiter admits she made a serious mistake when she arranged for teenage pages to stay with her son, a felon with a history of drug and alcohol problems.

But after her mistake became known to House Speaker Jim Black, he allowed her to retire from the position in April 2005 and then hired her back a month later as House historian, a position he created.

Lassiter now makes $50,627 a year, but has no office, is rarely seen at the legislature and says she is unlikely to produce her major project -- a report on the history of the House -- before her temporary position runs out at the end of the year.

Lassiter, 61, a career state employee, said her work as historian has turned out to be more than she expected.

"I started out with big dreams for it," she said. "But it's like a lot of things -- you get into it and you can get bogged down."

Black, a Mecklenburg County Democrat, declined to be interviewed for this story. He said in a statement that the revelation of Lassiter's son's having a criminal record and hosting pages led him to shift the program to House Principal Clerk Denise Weeks. Weeks has instituted criminal background checks for families that host pages from out of town when the legislature is in session.

"Ann Lassiter clearly made a serious mistake when she allowed her son to keep pages at his home, and I was extremely upset when I heard about it," Black said.

Black said he approved the historian position because he was "amazed" the legislature did not have a "detailed history of our chamber." The Senate has no such position.

Because Lassiter is a temporary employee as House historian, the only person who had to approve her hiring was Black, said Wesley Taylor, the legislature's financial services manager.

Black is seeking a record fifth term as speaker despite state and federal investigations into his campaign and legislative activities. He has not been charged with a crime, but four people who worked with him have been convicted of various crimes.

'My bad judgment'

In a series of interviews, Lassiter offered differing explanations for how the new job came about.

It is clear the major factor in her departure as coordinator of House pages was that she had steered pages to her son, Stephen Patrick Lassiter, shortly after she took over the program in mid-2003.

Her son had been convicted on a felony charge of selling and delivering marijuana to a Cary police officer. He was in prison from April to September of 2000. Additionally, court records in Wake and Chatham counties show that he was charged with breaking the law more than 30 times in the past decade. The charges cover speeding, driving while intoxicated, selling marijuana and resisting arrest. Most were dismissed or withdrawn by prosecutors, records show.

"It was my bad judgment to have him in the program," Lassiter said. "That was my choice. My call. It should not have happened."

Pages come from across the state and typically work at the legislature for a week. The pages' parents pay the host families $100 a week to provide a bed, transportation and some meals.

"If you are sending your child to be a page, you want to know that they are going to be in a safe environment," Weeks said. Weeks said she makes sure families are visited by a House official to check out the home.

Lassiter said she allowed her son to house as many as three pages in his home per week during the 2003 session. He lived in Apex.

It's unclear how many pages Stephen Lassiter hosted or any personal details about them. He could not be reached.

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