With his admission, McKown will receive a public reprimand and have to pay the S.C. State Ethics Commission for the cost of its investigation, said Cathy Hazelwood, the commission's general counsel. She did not know how much McKown will have to pay.

McKown was scheduled to have a hearing before a three-member panel at the ethics commission's office in Columbia. After the hearing was delayed for about an hour, McKown spoke with Hazelwood and the two reached the agreement.

McKown said he will sign a consent order, which is an admission of guilt but allows him to offer an explanation for the violations in writing. McKown said he will admit he unknowingly broke the state's ethics laws when he worked for two companies that contracted with the county and used his county vehicle to drive to those outside jobs.

"The long and the short of it is, an honest person made an honest mistake," McKown said after the agreement was reached. "I may have violated the ethics law, but we all agree that I didn't use my position of power or authority to gain financially from anybody."

Hazelwood said McKown had been completely cooperative. She also said the result is not uncommon with ethics proceedings.

"He's getting a public reprimand," she said, "which is about what everyone else gets for this."

The ethics commission alleges McKown used his position as an elected official to garner financial benefits for York Pathology Associates and Carolina Mortuary Transportation Service. The two businesses paid McKown for work unrelated to his official duties.

McKown maintains he never kept his off-the-clock jobs hidden. For years, he worked for York Pathology performing autopsies unrelated to his official duties. In 1998, he sent a letter to the ethics commission asking if that work was permitted.

The commission replied that he should not be working for the business because it was paid by the county to perform autopsies for the coroner's office. But McKown has said he did not believe he violated the standards spelled out in the letter because York Pathology had no formal, written contract with the county.

With Carolina Mortuary, McKown recommended the Charlotte business for a county contract in 2005. The company had been paying McKown to embalm bodies since 2000. McKown has said he doesn't know how his off-duty work in another state impacted his job as coroner.

As for the allegations of using his county vehicle for outside work, McKown has said there are no laws that govern how and when an elected official uses a county vehicle. He also says he reimbursed the county for gasoline on trips he made to personal events.

However, in a 1997 letter to the ethics commission, McKown asked if he could use his county vehicle on personal trips because he is always on call. The answer was no.

Although he admits he broke the ethics laws, McKown says the accusations were exaggerated by people who relayed such information to reporters in an attempt to damage his reputation. The director of the ethics commission has said the commission filed a complaint against McKown after learning of his outside work from the media.

"There's a certain sub-group of people that tried to make those actions into something criminal," McKown said. "And to that group of people, I would just say that I hope you're satisfied with the results that came out of this. ... The truth is that honest people make honest mistakes. They (ethics commission officials) realize that. I realize that. And the matter's been resolved. And all these things people said about me taking money under the table or illegally or bribing people are false."

While the ethics charges should soon be resolved, the suspended coroner's greatest challenge lies ahead. McKown and then-girlfriend Erin Jenkins were arrested in May on drug charges. Gov. Mark Sanford suspended McKown from office in July after McKown was indicted on those charges.

No trial date has been set for either defendant.