A regional lobbying company has dropped state House Speaker Bobby Harrell's brother from its Web site, although John Harrell remains with the firm.

The Greenville News reported in August that John Harrell had opened a Columbia lobbying office for Southern Strategy Group, whose Web site promised "unparalleled access to top decision-makers."

Although references to Harrell, a 36-year-old lawyer, have been deleted, the site still pledges "unparalleled access."

The site lists Bonnie Drake, a lawyer and former policy and planning director for the state Department of Health and Human Services, as the Columbia office staffer. Brandon Demody, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, is listed as head of the Charleston office.

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Neither could be reached for comment. John Harrell could not be reached for comment.

Ryan Banfill, a spokesman at the company's Tallahassee, Fla., headquarters, said John Harrell is the general counsel, not a lobbyist.

He said Harrell's name and biographical data were removed from the Web site because it was creating confusion about his duties.

An August press release said although John Harrell would not be a lobbyist, the hiring drew some criticism because his brother, the new House speaker, is one of the state's most powerful political figures. The South Carolina office opened in August. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, became speaker on June 2.

John Crangle, head of the state chapter of Common Cause, a political ethics watchdog group, said the hints of special access through John Harrell were "a rather vulgar and transparent attempt to make prospective clients think that they're going to obtain a special advantage not available to them through other lobbyists to influence the legislative process."

Speaker Harrell said at the time there would be no special access. "He's my brother, I care about him a lot, we're close, but when he told me he was going to do this, I told him very clearly he would not have an impact on my decisions or legislation."

John Harrell's biography, since removed from the site, noted that his brother is speaker and that his father, Bob Harrell Sr., has a seat on the state Transportation Board.

The St. Petersburg Times reported in March 2004 that SSG was founded in 1999 by three close allies of Gov. Jeb Bush -- Paul Bradshaw, David Rancourt and John Thrasher.