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COLUMBIA -- The state Department of Transportation Board voted Thursday to stop paying legal fees for two state highway commissioners named in a state Supreme Court ruling last week as having been appointed illegally.

The action came on the same day a House committee released a state attorney general's office opinion saying neither man could participate in commission business any more or get paid for meeting expenses.

Also Thursday, the committee approved a proposal to pay highway commissioners $12,000 a year, plus mileage and per diem expenses.

Commissioners Bob Harrell of Charleston County and John Hardee of Columbia were serving successive terms, something the justices ruled wasn't allowed by law. The ruling came as the result of a lawsuit by Greenville businessman Edward "Ned" Sloan.

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Harrell said at the time of the ruling he considered his service to the Department of Transportation Board ended. Hardee asked the court to rehear the case.

He told The Greenville News on Wednesday that he hadn't decided whether to appear at future board meetings. He wasn't at Thursday's meeting.

He declined to comment on the board's action.

DOT Chairman Tee Hooper said after Thursday's meeting he no longer considered Hardee a commissioner.

The agency has received about $25,000 in bills for legal services related to the lawsuit and Supreme Court case, said DOT general counsel Linda McDonald. She said more bills likely are outstanding.

Assistant Deputy Attorney General Robert Cook wrote in an opinion released Thursday that Harrell and Hardee no longer are commissioners, based upon the court's ruling.

"Once the court ruled that the commissioners are ineligible to serve, such ruling ends their status completely," he wrote. "This being the case, they are ineligible under the Sloan case to participate in commission meetings or to receive compensation therefor."

The Attorney General's Office has twice before issued opinions reaching the same conclusion as the justices -- highway commissioners cannot succeed themselves.

Hooper said it will be up to the Legislature to fill the seats of the two commissioners. A third commissioner named in the ruling left office last year after his term ended.

The committee action on the issue of paying highway commissioners came after lawmakers considered several proposals, including one that would have made the job of commissioner a full-time post with a salary of $99,000.

Commissioners are paid no salary now, only reimbursements for travel, phone and office-supply expenses.

House lawmakers say future board members should be paid more because they would receive more responsibility. The $1,000-per-month stipend is the same as House lawmakers are paid.

"We're looking to place more demands on these folks, so I think some compensation is warranted," Rep. Brian White of Anderson said.

Rep. Jay Lucas, a Hartsville Republican, said too many of the current commissioners answered questions from lawmakers with, "I don't know."

"I don't want to pay more money for the same stuff," he said. "I hope we can build something in here to be sure that if we increase compensation, we get more bang for our buck."

Hooper said it was difficult to comment on one change in a comprehensive package.

"The commission should be more accountable and more responsible, and with that accountability there is some reason to consider that (compensation)," he told reporters.

Travel expenses would be limited to trips to and from Columbia.

Records released by the committee Thursday show commissioners have been paid a total of $141,316 in reimbursements over the past four years, much of it to two commissioners. John Hardee of Columbia received $35,620, according to the records, while former Commissioner John "Moot" Truluck was paid $31,192.

The pair were among the longest-serving, however, of the 13 commissioners who were board members over the time period examined.