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(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops city hall has dished out more than $92,000 investigating the conduct of elected officials since last spring.

Just a handful of the 17 investigations have been completed so far and only two have found a council member broke the rules.

The council code of conduct policy was adopted in May to put boundaries on the behaviour of elected officials, something municipalities across the province must consider after new provincial legislation.

READ MORE: Kamloops taxpayers funding 17 council conduct investigations

Since then, seven investigations have been completed. Five of them were dismissed entirely.

While the embattled Kamloops council has a total 17 code of conduct investigations either finished or ongoing, other cities like Vernon and West Kelowna haven't investigated a single complaint.

When asked, staff at the City of Kelowna wouldn't say if there have been any complaints under its new code of conduct yet and Penticton council has yet to adopt a policy.

Kamloops, meanwhile, has spent $92,668 on code of conduct investigations as of Feb. 7, according to a report provided to iNFOnews.ca.

The highest costs came from complaints lodged by former councillor Denis Walsh, which is likely what spurred council to later restrict the public from filing them. His complaints launched four investigations, which cost the City $66,411.46, according to City documents.

READ MORE: BC health minister announces plan for Kamloops cancer centre

Walsh isn't named in the documents, but told iNFOnews.ca last month which complaints he filed. At the time, he lamented that most of the complaints came from within the city, expecting "astronomical" costs for the reports.

Walsh wasn't aware at the time how the costs differed between reports and the City had not then provided those figures to iNFOnews.ca.

"To me it's irresponsible for this administration and council to have 11 complaints filed under the code of conduct, knowing full well the cost to taxpayers," Walsh said at the time.

His were by far the most expensive, which came to an average of around $16,600 per complaint.

The investigation into another complaint filed by a member of the public, which hasn't been completed yet, has cost $10,673 so far.

There are several unfinished investigations that haven't reached $1,000 mark yet and two more that haven't even started.

iNFOnews.ca reported last month the total amount spent could reach as high as $200,000, but that total included possible expenses for other recent legal costs.

When asked for a breakdown of other expenses, corporate officer Maria Mazzotta said the legal expenses attributed to issues like the bylaw department labour arbitration or Noble Creek irrigation shutdown are privileged and would not be released.

The code of conduct investigations, however, can be released because the investigator is not acting as the City's lawyer, Mazzotta said in an emailed response.

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