With less than a week before Election Day, Jerome Block Jr.'s scandal-wracked campaign faces yet another inquiry into how he's spending public campaign money.

The Secretary of State's Office plans to ask Block about three expenditures totaling more than $2,000 — including $1,500 to the Democratic Party in San Miguel County, where the Public Regulation Commission candidate's spending troubles began.

The office is also looking into $350 Block gave to Cordy Medina in July — after Block won the primary — for "mailout assistance" work she performed last spring. State campaign-finance law prohibits candidates from spending general-election funds on primary expenses. Medina is employed as the constituent-services officer for the Attorney General's Office, which involves taking complaints and concerns from the public. "Ms. Medina ensures that their concerns do not get lost in the shuffle," the Attorney General's Office Web site says. The office has been providing legal counsel to the secretary of state on Block's finance matters.

The third matter involves the employer of Block's father, Jerome Block Sr., a former PRC member who now lobbies for Mescalero Apache Telecom Inc.

Block Jr. hired MATI Network Inc. to design his campaign Web site last winter, but in his recent spending report, he listed giving the company $507.90 on Aug. 9 for "website design and hosting." The secretary of state, according to spokesman James Flores, is looking into whether Block misspent general-election funds.

Block, who has received more than $101,000 in public money for the primary and general elections, couldn't be reached by phone Tuesday night.

Giving money to the San Miguel County Democratic Party might be in violation of a provision that limits spending public funds strictly on campaign-related purposes.

Block ran into this issue already when he gave $700 in August to Hillary Clinton to help erase her multimillion-dollar presidential-campaign debt. In that case, and also for giving $2,500 to the San Miguel County clerk's band for a performance that never took place, the secretary of state fined Block $11,000 and told him to repay $10,000 in funds.

Block has until 5 p.m. Friday to respond in that matter, Flores said. If he does not respond by that deadline, he will receive a "final notice" that he must pay the $21,000, the Secretary of State's Office says.

San Miguel County's party chairman, Martin Suazo, said Tuesday that he wasn't aware Block's money had restrictions and he has already used the money to rent three months of office space on the Las Vegas, N.M., plaza.

"If that's the case, and the secretary of state rules, I guess we'll have to do some additional fundraising because we don't have it in the coffers anymore," Suazo said.

However, if the Secretary of State's Office rules as it did in the Clinton case, it might be Block's job to repay the money and perhaps pay a fine.

Suazo said Block handed him a check Aug. 12, but without any suggestion the local party do favors for the candidate. "I keep myself to a no-strings-attached policy," Suazo said. "In other words, if they don't expect us to do this or that for them, I'll gladly accept it."

Suazo said the county party has held no events for Block.

Block triumphed over five other Democrats to win the District 3 primary with 23 percent of the vote, and of the district's 13 counties, he finished first in only San Miguel County.

Flores said a letter asking Block to explain the expenditures has been drafted but has not been sent to the candidate.

Block, 31, faces Green Party member Rick Lass, 42, in the general election. The PRC job pays $90,000 a year and involves overseeing regulation of utilities, telecommunications, insurance and other industries.

Contact Doug Mattson at 986-3087 or dmattson@sfnewmexican.com.