Former state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine will face an administrative hearing and possible fines on allegations that he violated state ethics laws.

The state ethics commission voted unanimously Friday to forward his case to an administrative law judge for what amounts to a civil trial. The commission decided that probable cause existed that Oxendine violated campaign finance laws in his 2010 bid for the Republican nomination for governor.

The commission also dismissed a complaint against former Gov. Roy Barnes, agreed to settle a case involving the lobbyist who paid for Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, to travel to Europe over Thanksgiving 2010, and delayed until at least July action on a series of cases involving Gov. Nathan Deal.

Commission Chairman Kevin Abernethy said "there is a lot of circumstantial evidence" to forward the Oxendine case for a hearing. Oxendine now has 30 days to negotiate a settlement before a hearing.

Oxendine attorney Stefan Passantino did not dispute that his client's campaign accepted contributions from 10 political action committees and two Rome-based insurance companies that used the PACs in 2008 to funnel $120,000 to Oxendine's campaign.

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