Campaign-finance and ethics complaints against Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar, R-Laurel, are proceeding at the Office of Political Practices, although no ruling on the merits has occurred.

Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth said the campaign-finance complaint is still under investigation, and that the ethics complaint will be handled by an independent hearings officer.

Unsworth said he’s not sure in which order the cases will proceed, or when they’ll be resolved. Complaints before the office usually take at least a few months to be resolved — and sometimes a year or more.

Both complaints were filed by Mary Jo Fox, campaign manager for Molnar’s Democratic opponent, Ron Tussing of Billings.,

Molnar is running for re-election in PSC District 2, which covers 10 counties in southeastern Montana, including Yellowstone.

Fox’s campaign-finance complaint, which also named NorthWestern Energy and PPL Montana as defendants, said the companies and Molnar violated state law that forbids candidates from accepting corporate donations.

NorthWestern and PPL Montana each gave $1,000 to Molnar last fall to help finance an energy-conservation event in Billings.

Molnar used the money to print brochures promoting the event. Fox said the violations occurred when Molnar used some of the brochures, which had his picture on the front, as campaign literature.

Molnar has denied the charges, saying the money wasn’t used for campaign purposes. He also said he returned the $1,000 donation to NorthWestern.

Her ethics complaint says Molnar illegally accepted a gift from corporations for personal use. Molnar has said the donations are allowed under a state law that says the money can be used for “educational purposes.’’