Maryland's attorney general is asking a Circuit Court to order collection of a $7,500 ethics violation fine from Howard County's election board administrator, who has ignored a 9-month-old decision of the state's high court.

The outstanding fine sparked outrage yesterday among Howard officials, though the violation occurred in the mid-1990s, when administrator Robert J. Antonetti Sr. held the same job in Prince George's County.

The Rev. Roland L. Howard Sr., the county's Board of Elections president, said if the court issues the order he will convene an emergency board meeting for what might be "drastic action."

"If you ignore the law, that tells me that [you think] you're above the law," said Howard. "We can take some sort of action. We have to. We've got somebody [in a leadership role] who won't pay their bills."

County Executive James N. Robey was also upset.

"It's a state agency, but it reflects poorly on Howard County. I hope Mr. Antonetti would take care of this and remove a cloud," Robey said, noting that state elections are approaching.

Antonetti did not return calls seeking comment. His lawyer, William C. Brennan said: "My client is lawfully pursuing all of his legal options, which he has a right to do."

The petition to impose a fine was filed Monday in Prince George's County Circuit Court, said Assistant Attorney General Michael S. Friedman. Once formally served notice, Antonetti will have 30 days to reply, then a hearing would be held, so the process could take several months, officials said.

The action is the State Ethics Commission's attempt to collect a fine first imposed in May 1997, after the commission found that Antonetti violated ethics regulations by improperly hiring his wife and children for part-time elections board jobs in Prince George's, then not disclosing their employment records.

Antonetti appealed that decision and won in Circuit Court and again at the Court of Special Appeals, but the Court of Appeals - Maryland's highest court - reversed those decision and upheld the ethics commission in September.

The commission found that Antonetti, who was elections board administrator in Prince George's for 30 years before going to Howard two years ago, paid family members $14,000 from 1988 to 1994, and signed the pay slips for them.

He has argued that though he hired family members for temporary jobs, that is not inappropriate or unusual in Maryland, and that he signed the pay stubs because he was the only board official authorized to do that.

Friedman said he could not comment on efforts to collect $1,250 in late fees Antonetti was assessed for not filing the employment disclosure reports.

The board administrator was recently the subject of scrutiny in Howard County because of a $200,000 mistake found in his budget. Antonetti said he had erroneously double-counted how many election judges will be needed. The extra money, discovered just before the County Council took final action on the budget May 22, was transferred to the school board budget.