ATLANTA (AP) The head of the state ethics commission has been placed on administrative leave with pay, a few days after she was fined by a judge for failing to turn over key documents in a lawsuit against the agency. <br />
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Commission Chairwoman Hillary Stringfellow tells The Associated Press she notified the agency's director, Holly LaBerge, on Friday that she had been placed on administrative leave. Stringfellow would only say the action followed the advice of counsel. <br />
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A judge Wednesday fined LaBerge and the state attorney general's office $10,000 each for not handing over texts, emails and a memo showing LaBerge had communicated with top aides for Gov. Nathan Deal shortly before the commission considered ethics complaints involving the governor's 2010 personal and campaign-finance disclosures. <br />
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A call to LaBerge wasn't immediately returned.
