The Governor's Mansion spent nearly two years' worth of funding on operating expenses in the last year of Gov. Jim Hodges' term, according to records obtained under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.

The mansion staff spent $147,000 on food and other items including lobster, rabbit loin, alligator tail, caviar and Peruvian squid tubes, The Greenville News reported Saturday.

The mansion account was nearly depleted when Republican Gov. Mark Sanford took office in January.

The records do not indicate whether the food and other purchases were used by the Hodges family or as part of mansion entertaining or the courting of industrial prospects.

Hodges has denied any misspending.

He told The State on Saturday that he didn't know exactly how food is ordered at the mansion. He said the mansion staff bought food for events at the mansion as well as for the first family.

"There are a lot of events at the mansion that have absolutely nothing to do with the first family," Hodges said.

The governor often hosts economic development prospects, business groups and dignitaries at the mansion, Hodges said.

As to the fancy foods, such as fresh lobster, pheasant and caviar, Hodges said Saturday, "I ain't a caviar kind of guy so it wouldn't have been for us."

A lack of state records on previous mansion spending makes it difficult to determine whether the pattern of spending was any different in the Hodges' administration.

Former Hodges chief of staff Billy Boan said last year's mansion operating expenditures were not significantly different from prior years or from Hodges' predecessors -- David Beasley, Carroll Campbell and Richard Riley.

"I don't believe the Hodges family did anything out of the ordinary," he said.

Hodges' immediate predecessor, David Beasley, told the Greenville newspaper he doesn't think he and his family ever ate exotic food while living and entertaining in the mansion. "Our standard meal was a meat and three, what you'd get in a family diner kind of place," he said.

At least one Republican legislative leader was critical of the mansion spending in a year when the state's budget was being cut.

"To me this is inexcusable," said Senate Majority Leader Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston. "It smacks of lavish living, especially since we're in a budget crisis."

However, Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Columbia, said he was not bothered by the purchases if they were used for entertaining.

"If it was in pursuit of industries to relocate in South Carolina and provide jobs, that's maybe something you can understand," Jackson said. "I would suspect that was entertaining dignitaries and potential prospects."

Last month, Sanford said Hodges had shown a "disregard for costs" in mansion spending and threatened to close it down for four months until private donations changed his mind. Sanford said at the time that 90 percent of the mansion's budget was gone by the time he took office.

"I don't think you need to go to the exotic in terms of food choice," Sanford said. "If we serve rabbit loin, I'm going to be the one who shot the rabbit. If we serve quail, it will be quail that I shot. I don't know what Peruvian squid tubes are, but I'm quite certain I probably wouldn't like it.

"I would want the food served in the Governor's Mansion to at least in some way to reflect the great variety of food choices we already have here in the state."

Hodges has said the mansion's financial pinch was created by the Legislature in 2001 when it provided half the money needed to pay salaries for the mansion's staff.

"The Legislature notoriously underfunds the mansion," Hodges said Saturday. "There was not enough money to operate it."

But, Hodges added, the mansion is an important tool for recruiting business to South Carolina.

"Where you have a mansion and you're involved in having events for dignitaries, business groups and others, you're going to have a nice event that has nice food," Hodges said. "If you're going to have BMW coming to visit, you're not going to pass around a bottle of Boone's Farm. I don't think the public expects that."

However, last year's mansion expenses were almost the amount lawmakers approved for two fiscal years.

"I think some of that is expected," said Republican House Speaker David Wilkins of Greenville. "But it ought to be in some bounds of reasonableness. If he spent twice what he was appropriated to spend, he was excessive."

Mansion operating expenses for February, the first full month under Sanford, totaled $9,974 -- $5,807 of which was spent by Sanford's staff, according to a Sanford spokesman. Hodges spent $7,262 last February.

New first lady Jenny Sanford, a former investment banker who has taken charge of mansion operations, has trimmed the staff by four, reduced hours, asked employees to perform more than one task and is closely watching the food bill.

She also plans to open the two other homes on the mansion grounds, the Lace House and the Boylston House, for rental use and plans to schedule more free activities on the complex to allow more people to enjoy the mansion.

"I don't think the previous administration really paid attention to what was appropriated for them," she said. "We are now living within what was appropriated."