Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford has been appointed to the National Association of Counties Board of Directors, and that has sparked a discussion among the Berrien County Board of Commissioners.

At Thursday’s regular meeting, Pitchford told colleagues the national association has offered to reimburse him for his travel expenses to its meetings and conferences. Pitchford wanted to know if that’s permitted by the board’s bylaws.

County corporate counsel Thaddeus Hackworth said commissioners generally aren’t supposed to accept gifts, so that raises a question.

“And that is whether or not the reimbursement for actual travel expenses is a gift under the bylaws,” Hackworth said.

Multiple commissioners have accepted reimbursement for travel expenses in the past. Hackworth said, fortunately, this issue has already been raised in other venues.

“The State Board of Ethics has visited this question at least two times, and that is the question of whether or not a state public official can accept reimbursement for actual travel expenses under the statute, and both times it has determined that that is not improper.”

Hackworth said a gift is usually thought to be something given without anything being done in return. In this case, reimbursement for travel expenses isn’t the same thing.

After a lengthy discussion, the board voted to designate travel expense reimbursement as permitted in its bylaws. The lone dissenter was Commissioner Julie Wuerfel.

Pitchford noted he’s not being paid to attend meetings of the National Association of Counties, and the reimbursement was offered to him because the county isn’t paying for his travel expenses.