From Democracy North Carolina's 2007 lobbyist report:

* Don Beason, who retired after a shady loan to disgraced Speaker Jim Black became public, reported earning $145,521 from 16 clients, putting him in 29th place.

* His son, Mark, reported earning $279,423 from 16 clients, putting him in sixth place.

* Elizabeth Dalton, daughter of Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, reported earning $79,343 from five clients, for 56th place.

* Courtney Crowder, now a lobbyist for Gov. Beverly Perdue, reported earning $42,794 from 10 clients, for 116th place.

* Lanier Cansler, now secretary of Health and Human Services, reported earning $31,110 from four clients, for 159th place.

* Don Vaughan, who was elected a state senator last year, reported earning $22,500 from one client, for 206th place.

What happened to Don Beason's clients?

When the once-top lobbyist resigned his practice last year over a shady loan to House Speaker Jim Black, his lucrative list of clients was up for grabs.

By Dome's count, seven of the 16 clients did nothing. BB&T, Cingular Wireless, Albemarle Mental Health Center, Dale Earnhardt Inc., Sigma Corp., the Association of Settlement Companies, and the Carolina Ballet have no registered lobbyists during the current session.

That may be because they don't face any pending bills in a short session devoted to the budget. 

Three clients still employ Beason's son, Mark, along with other lobbyists: The Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services, AT&T North Carolina and S&M Brands.

Two clients, the city of Hickory and Catawba County, went with a new team of Jack Cozort, Kevin Leonard and noted lobbyist Alexander "Sandy" Sands.

Among the other top clients, Progress Energy went with noted lobbyist Zeb Alley, John Bode and Kathy Hawkins; while IBM went with former lieutenant governor Dennis Wicker and a team of eight lobbyists. Colonial Life Insurance hired Glenn Jernigan and the N.C. Railroad Co. hired Michelle Frazier and John McMillan.

Did Don Beason report all of his pay from the Albemarle Mental Health Center?

At N.C. Policy Watch, Chris Fitzsimon noticed a discrepancy between the payments for lobbying services reported to the Secretary of State and those in a state audit.

The audit (Table 5, page 35) shows a total of $76,082 for "lobbyist services" in fiscal year 2006.

During that time, Beason and his son, Mark, represented Albemarle. But state lobbying forms only list payments of $5,224 from January to September of 2005, $3,201 from September to December, and $4,000 from January to July of 2006.

That's only $12,425 — just a sixth of what was paid per the audit — and it's still high since the fiscal year likely runs from July to June.

As we've noted before, Beason also underreported payments from BB&T, IBM and Progress Energy.

The Capital Group was not set up for lobbying.

According to the company's original filing from 1999, it was involved in "right of way acquisition services." The Secretary of State's office found the paperwork at the request of Dome and reposted it this afternoon.

The form, dated July 6, lists lobbyist Don Beason's office and P.O. box. It is signed by his son, Mark. There are four partners, who are not listed.

George Jeter, a spokesman for the secretary's office, said that they do regular sweeps of the hundreds of thousands of active corporations and partnerships looking for missing annual reports. In 2004, they requested The Capital Group file one.

When it had not responded a year later, it was administratively dissolved.

A limited liability partnership is usually set up to protect its owners from lawsuits and other liabilities.

"It is not a criminal offense to keep the company going after you are dissolved but it is opening yourself up to direct personal liability," Jeter explained.

Don Beason used the Bishops Ridge condo as an office.

According to real estate records, the condominium was listed as the office of Beason's son, Mark, from its purchase in September of 2002 to January of 2003.

From June to October of 2004, it's listed as the address of a Jack Tyler.

And from 2005 to 2006, it was listed as Don Beason's office. It's currently listed as being owned by Beason's company, The Capitol Group.

Wake County Tax Assessor Emmett Curl said that the $142,500 purchase price would have been in line with the county's 2000 assessment of $135,123.

He said appraisers haven't gotten to Bishops Ridge for the 2008 revaluations, but the property likely has gone up significantly in value. Similar condos in Bishops Ridge have sold for as much as $204,000 this year.

Hat Tip: Lamara Williams-Hackett

Don Beason's son, Mark, worked closely with him.

According to filings with the Secretary of State's office, Mark Beason made $61,130 from 10 clients he shared with his father, including BB&T, Cingular Wireless and the N.C. Railroad Co., in the first six months of the year.

The single largest contracts were with Sigma Corp., a New Jersey pipe fitting company, for $27,000, and Colonial Life Insurance, for $12,000. Both paid Don Beason the same amounts.

In addition, Mark Beason made $31,750 from four other clients. The N.C. Railway Association paid him $15,000, the N.C. Community Health Center Association paid $13,000 and the N.C. Pawn Brokers Association paid $3,750.

Valley Development is also listed as a client, but it has not filed any payment reports.

In all, Mark Beason earned $92,880 in the first six months of the year. 

BB&T has dropped Don Beason as a lobbyist.

According to officials with Secretary of State Elaine Marshall's office, the Winston-Salem-based bank terminated its lobbying contracts Thursday with Beason and his son, Mark.

At a state sentencing hearing last month, disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black admitted that he received a $500,000 loan from Beason in 2000.

The following day, Beason resigned from a state lobbyist association.

Often ranked as a top lobbyist in recent years, Beason's client list includes Dale Earnhardt Inc. and the Carolina Ballet.

The forms were signed by BB&T vice president Ed Simpson.

Update: "It was the right thing to do," said company spokesman Bob Denham. "That's all I'm going to say."

Update: A spokeswoman for Progress Energy says they accepted his resignation on Aug. 3. The termination has not yet been filed with the Secretary of State.