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Orange County DA eases rules on fund use following grand jury report

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) Orange County's district attorney will allow his staff to entertain politicians and lobbyists with funds earmarked for law enforcement work, despite a grand jury recommendation that he ban the practice, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

District Attorney Anthony Rackauckas has changed office policy to allow the money to be used for any ``matter of interest'' to the office, the newspaper reported. That includes allowing staffers to entertain while discussing legislation.

County supervisors allocated $90,000 to the fund last year.

The county grand jury criticized Rackauckas in June for allowing a top official to use money from a special fund to buy alcohol and food at political functions. The panel said the fund was established to pay the costs of investigating and prosecuting crimes.

In Rackauckas' response to the grand jury, the district attorney defended his office, blaming criticism on political enemies.

Last week, the attorney general's office said it looked into allegations of wrongdoing by the district attorney's office and found no criminal charges should be filed.

Rackauckas was elected district attorney in 1998. He was formerly a Superior Court judge.

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