UNC board choice has record

RALEIGH -- One of the newest members of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors likely won't take his seat on the board because of his past criminal conviction for taking money from the county school system where he was superintendent.

Purnell Swett, former superintendent of Robeson County schools, was elected in April, along with 15 other nominees, to the board that oversees the state's university system.

"He likely will choose not to assume office and will allow us to find another candidate," said House Speaker Joe Hackney, when the Charlotte Observer asked questions Wednesday about Swett. "I hope that's the case."

Swett, 72, declined to discuss the situation in detail, but indicated he was undecided.

"I'll just weigh all the options out," he said in a brief telephone interview.

Swett's now-clouded election comes at an inopportune time for lawmakers, who are in the first year of broad ethics reforms, just as a scandal surrounding the former House speaker is winding down and the investigation of a House member is heating up.

It also underscores a long-running debate about how seats on the Board of Governors should be filled. Members are elected separately by the House and the Senate, not by the governor or legislative leaders.

"The General Assembly is not doing its homework on the candidates, and Swett is an example of that," said Ran Coble, executive director of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research. "If they did it in a more deliberative way and less political way, this wouldn't happen."

In response to Swett's election, Hackney's office has retooled the background information form that nominees fill out. Previously the question about criminal convictions asked only about felonies. Swett's conviction was a misdemeanor.

Swett was Robeson's superintendent in 1997 when he paid himself an extra $13,000, according to court records. He resigned and was charged with embezzlement and conspiracy -- felonies -- but ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor misconduct charge. He was given a suspended sentence and ordered to repay the money.

Hackney said there were legal and constitutional questions about whether Swett could take office; the constitution says candidates who have committed certain offenses cannot take office. It was unclear whether the board of governors comes under that passage in the constitution or if Swett's conviction disqualifies him. Those questions would have to be researched before Swett could take office as scheduled on July 1.

"The preliminary discussions are that he does not desire to go through that," Hackney said.

He said his office is researching the process for nominating a substitute.

Lawmakers from both parties said they learned of Swett's conviction only after his election.

"It's troubling," said Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat. "I don't want to mar somebody for life, but when you have other super-qualified candidates, it sends sort of a weird signal to the public."

Rep. Doug Yongue, a Democrat whose district includes part of Robeson in southeastern North Carolina, nominated Swett, but Yongue said he was unaware of his conviction.