State investigators have "made inquiries" regarding alleged ethics violations by Carroll County Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge, the state prosecutor said yesterday.

The inquiries followed a complaint made to his office, State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli said. He added that the state has not started a criminal investigation against Gouge.

Montanarelli would not comment on the details of the inquiries.

Gouge, a four-term Republican commissioner, was investigated this year by the Carroll County ethics commission for allegedly interfering in a dispute between her daughter and a county-hired contractor. Among other allegations, the commission investigated the possibility that Gouge influenced a contractor to lower the price of a sewer extension performed last year at her daughter's business in Hampstead.

County records show the price of the extension was lowered from $9,490 on April 11 to $8,490 on June 21. Gouge has said she did not try to influence a price reduction. Attempts to reach her for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.

The county ethics board never charged Gouge, but it never formally closed its investigation, commission Chairman James F. W. Talley said yesterday.

Last week, Gouge's newly elected fellow commissioners, Dean L. Minnich and Perry L. Jones Jr., asked for resignations from Talley and his colleagues, John Harner and Sue Primoff.

Gouge recused herself from the vote demanding the resignations. The commissioners also made plans last week to expand the ethics panel to as many as seven members.

Minnich and Jones approved a Dec. 3 letter from county attorney Kimberly A. Millender saying the ethics panelists had misused their office, failed to comply with the county ethics code and demonstrated incompetence. The letter said that if the ethics panelists didn't resign within a week, the commissioners would fire them Dec. 31.

The ethics panelists will not resign, Talley said yesterday. He disputed claims that he and his colleagues misused their office, ignored the county ethics code or showed incompetence. "We believe these allegations are completely without basis," he said.

The letter from Millender said the ethics panelists had 10 days to request a face-to-face meeting with the commissioners where they could rebut the allegations.

Talley said the ethics panel will address the commissioners' criticisms point by point in a written response this week. He declined to discuss the details of the panel's arguments.

Minnich and Jones have said that they did not ask for the resignations to protect Gouge from further investigation.

Gouge said last week that she hoped county residents would not think Jones and Minnich were protecting her by requesting the resignations.

"There's always that perception because I had been the object of an investigation," Gouge said. "But the reality is the things they were investigating were not factual. There's been a very wide perception by the citizens that too many people have been the objects of attack by this ethics commission."