COLUMBIA, S.C. - Statewide officeholders and 27 members of the General Assembly accepted thousands of dollars in free travel last year, according to reports filed with the State Ethics Commission.

Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, who accepted more than $6,000 in free travel from supporters in 2004, said he took trips to locations such as Seattle and New Orleans to attend political events. Sanford said the gifts saved taxpayer dollars.

The trips are legal under state ethics law. All were disclosed as required on the annual economic interests forms that Sanford and most public officials must file each year.

Some government watchdog groups say such gifts create ethical dilemmas for public officials.

"When these business interests, special interest groups give these free trips, the appearance at a minimum is that they expect something in return," said John Crangle, executive director of the state chapter of Common Cause, a Washington-based government watchdog group.

Among other statewide officeholders, Republican Attorney General Henry McMaster reported more than $3,800 in free travel, Democratic Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum had $120, Treasurer Grady Patterson, a Democrat, reported $199, and Republican Secretary of State Mark Hammond $106.

Sanford said, for example, he traveled to Seattle on a plane owned by Spartanburg-based payday lender Advance America. Company chairman George Dean Johnson is a friend of his.

"We go hunting together," Sanford said. The governor said the company already was sending a plane to Seattle for the meeting.

"The plane was going, there was room and off I went," Sanford said.

The governor said the events in question were not official state business, "where I would drive in one of the state cars or take the state plane."

Some of the trips he reported were to in-state Republican Party events. But Crangle said the governor or the GOP should pay for trips that are not official business.

"If (public officials) are traveling on state business, they ought to be traveling on the state's dime," Crangle said. "If they're on personal business, they ought to be on their own dime."

Previous governors have accepted free travel. Former Gov. Jim Hodges, a Democrat, said it was not uncommon for him to accept plane trips from private individuals for nonstate business.

Former Gov. David Beasley, a Republican, reimbursed businesses and individuals for $13,800 in free travel after Crangle's organization complained about the practice in 1998.

Lawmakers, too, sometimes accept free trips. Last year, 27 lawmakers accepted more than $42,000 in hotel rooms, airfare and meals.

Former House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, received a free plane ride from Advance America to Salt Lake City in July 2004 for a meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures, which was giving Wilkins an award.

Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-Laurens, traveled to Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Beijing, China, in December on an economic development trip sponsored by Ritchie Capital Management, an Illinois-based investment firm. The investment firm paid for the $4,100 cost of Duncan's trip.

Duncan said the trip was to develop "mutually beneficial economic development interests for South Carolina and China." He said he and other state representatives discussed the growth of automotive-related businesses in the Upstate with Chinese officials.

Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, visited Bahrain in September as part of a conference paid for by the National Foundation for Women Legislators. The conference was to strengthen ties between Bahrain and the United States. Ceips took a follow-up trip to Tampa, Fla., in December. Together, the two trips cost at least $2,000, according to Ceips' disclosure forms.

Most lawmaker travel is a little closer to home to speak to conferences at resorts around the state.