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FRANKFORT (AP) - The Executive Branch Ethics Commission on Monday charged former agriculture commissioner Richie Farmer with a record 42 ethics violations while he was in office from 2003 to 2011. Here is a look at some of the alleged violations:

HIRING

- "Farmer influenced the creation of four special assistant positions, with no specific job duties, and placed his friends in these positions."

- In November and December, 2011, Farmer "influenced the Department to hire an individual with whom he had an ongoing intimate relationship and placed her under" his direct supervision with a "significantly higher" salary than the previous holder of the position.

- Farmer influenced the department "to hire individuals with political and personal connections to himself, without regard to the individual's merit."

PERSONAL USE OF STATE RESOURCES

- Department employees chauffeured Farmer and his family to doctors' appointments, personal shopping trips and hunting trips. "Farmer also directed ... employees to chauffeur the family dog from the Kentucky State Fair to Farmer's home in Frankfort."

- Department employees built a basketball court and a retaining wall in Farmer's back yard, moved furniture and cleaned his garage.

- Farmer's extended family stayed in hotels paid for by the state while attending the Kentucky State Fair and the Sweet 16 basketball tournament.

- Farmer had three laptops purchased by the state delivered to his home for his family's use.

- Farmer used his position to use $20,000 in state funds to sponsor a racing team owned by a member of his family.

OTHER

- Farmer used his position to spend "state funds comingled with solicited funds from outside entities" for activities related to a 2008 agriculture commissioners' conference. Among the expenses were a trip to a water park only for Farmer's children and a trip "totaling in excess of $30,000 to Millionaire's Row at Churchill Downs for gambling on races named for the visiting Agriculture Commissioners (sic), and on opulent meals and entertainment ..."

- Farmer sold complimentary tickets he received for various events, including the Kentucky Derby, for amounts higher than the face value, and did not report the income to the ethics commission.

- Farmer received two all-terrain vehicles for himself and one for his father in exchange for promising state grant money to a private business.

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