An architectural firm paid the son of the recently fired chancellor of Alabama’s two-year-college system $3,000 a month for about a year to help oversee a project at the college where he works.

The Birmingham News reported today that Steven Johnson, who is paid about $69,000 a year by Lawson State Community College to handle special projects, received the monthly payments from the Alabama-based firm of Jenkins Munroe Jenkins from October 2005 until this past June. Mr. Johnson confirmed that he had received the payments, according to the News, but declined to comment further.

The Alabama State Board of Education ousted Mr. Johnson’s father, Roy W. Johnson, as chancellor of the state’s two-year colleges in July (The Chronicle, July 13), in part because of concerns about his relatives’ receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars for work done for the system (The Chronicle, May 22).

Julian Jenkins, a partner in the firm, said that when he hired Steven Johnson, he was not aware Mr. Johnson was employed by Lawson State, according to the report. Mr. Jenkins said that, had he known of the conflict of interest, he probably would not have hired Mr. Johnson.

Jenkins Munroe Jenkins has received more than $4.2-million in contracts from two-year colleges since 2001, according to the News.