CENTRAL CITY, Colo. -- The Gilpin County clerk has spent thousands of dollars for non-highway expenditures out of a fund designated to supervise highways, including paying a contractor with whom she admits to having a close personal relationship, a CALL7 investigation found.

Gilpin Clerk and Recorder Jessica Lovingier controls an uninsured motorist fund made up of fines from people who drive without proof of insurance. The money is intended to help her supervise the public highways, but records show the money was used for cable television in the county break room, conference supplies, travel and information technology services to help set up election computers.

“What I found was a great number of expenses that were for a number of items that weren't necessarily connected to highway use at all,” said Gilpin County Commissioner Jeanne Nicholson, who started looking into the spending after 7News requested documents related to the accounts.

After the 7News investigation started, Nicholson said she was interviewed by members of the local District Attorney’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation about Lovingier’s spending and her relationship with the IT contractor.

Lovingier denied there was a conflict of interest with her directing money to a contractor with whom she has a relationship.

“So you supervise that portion of the contract with him?” CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia asked.

“Right,” Lovingier said.

“And you have a personal relationship with him?” Ferrugia asked.

“Right,” she answered.

“Is that proper?” Ferrugia asked.

“I honestly don't feel that I did anything that was compromising to the county or to anybody,” Lovingier answered.

“You think it's ethical?” Ferrugia asked.

“Yeah, I think that our relationships are separate,” she said.

Lovingier is elected and answers to voters so Nicholson said she is requesting information from the county attorney about whether commissioners can do anything about the potential conflict.

“So if the clerk has a personal relationship with this individual, is that a conflict of interest?” Ferrugia asked.

“If that’s true, yes,” Lovingier said.

Lovingier also said county commissioners knew about all of her spending out of the uninsured motorist fund, but Nicholson disputed that claim.

“If your county clerk said to me, well, the reason I can do all this is that the commissioners have approved it?” Ferrugia said.

“I would say, no, that's not true,” Nicholson said.

“You didn't approve any of the use of the uninsured motorists’ fund,” Ferrugia said.

“No,” Nicholson answered.

Lovingier conceded she has lived for more than a year in Centennial. CALL7 Investigators took video tape of the personal car of the contractor in front of the house where Lovingier was staying after work hours.

“He stays at your mom's house sometimes doesn't he?” Ferrugia asked about the contractor.

“He doesn't stay,” Lovingier said.

“He just spends a lot of time there?” Ferrugia asked.

“He may,” she answered.

A review of Lovingier’s travel reports also show that she has charged the county for miles from Gilpin County to the south and west suburbs when she made the business-related trips from Centennial. A review of other mileage charges show that she received reimbursed mileage for meetings that state and county officials could not confirm ever happened.

Lovingier said she would review the travel and return any money she wrongly received.

"So essentially what you do is charge the county for shopping at a distant place where you live,” Ferrugia asked.

"Yeah, I can see that,” Lovingier replied.

"Is it fair to the taxpayers?” Ferrugia said.

“No,” she answered.

Lovingier said she believed she was just following the rules about using her personal car for business trips, but she conceded that voters might not see it that way.

“I think they're going to look at it, and think that it's quite shameful,” she said.

“It’s cheating isn’t it?” Ferrugia asked.

“I'll say it's cheating, and I'll give it all back right now,” she said.

County commissioners met ON May 5, to discuss the funds, but felt they did not have authority to oversee Lovingier because she is an elected official. County administrators, however, will now audit the mileage reimbursements of all elected officials.