Sen. Fred Smith was paid for two weeks he was absent.

According to state records, the Clayton Republican missed 17 days this past session, but was paid for all but three of them. At $104 per day, Smith earned $1,456 on days he was not in the legislature.

His campaign's chief of staff, Jonathan Hill, said the payments were a clerical error. He said that Smith, a millionaire businessman, has had a policy since taking office in 2003 of not receiving his per diem on days he is absent.

"Any time he was not there, we wanted him not to be reimbursed," he said.

Joe Goettee, the legislature's payroll administrator, said its policy is to automatically cut lawmakers a check unless they ask not to be paid for a specific day. His records showed Smith waived his per diem on June 28, June 29 and July 5.

Hill said Smith would repay any money received for days he is absent. He said the Republican gubernatorial candidate has given the money away to charities and political causes in his district.

Previously: Smith missed votes on 17 days of the session.

Hat Tip: Alert Dome blog readers