A state ethics panel has instructed N.J. Corrections Commissioner Devon Brown to avoid any future private business dealings with employees in his department.

The panel criticized Brown for hiring a part-time consultant to do a research project for his son, who is a graduate student in Maryland.

However, the Executive Commission on Ethical Standards last week dismissed a more serious charge that Brown used his "official position to gain an unwarranted advantage" for his son.

The charge was dismissed in large part because the consultant did not report directly to the commissioner, said Rita Strmensky, the commission's executive director.

"I regret very much that a seemingly innocent statistical project _ a project that as a researcher I could have easily completed myself, save for time restraints _ could have engendered this kind of response," Brown said in a written statement.

The charge grew out of a dispute between Brown and Paul Gerrish, a part-time consultant who worked at the department one day a week until the end of June, Strmensky said.

Gerrish billed Brown $1,000 for the research, but the commissioner thought the bill was too high and refused to pay. He later paid the statistician $300, according to the commission.

"Essentially, this is a matter of a disagreement between two private parties about the quality of work produced and the price paid for said work," Brown said in his statement.