NASHVILLE (AP) - A Republican panel has spent four hours questioning top judicial officials in an inquiry over the handling of a complaint against the chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press (http://bit.ly/UJf72H) reports the investigation, headed by Sen. Mike Bell of Riceville, has stalled after officials with the state Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission and the state Board of Judicial Conduct said no laws were broken and no judicial rules violated.

Bell wanted Chief Justice Gary Wade disciplined for allegedly violating rules about judges lobbying and endorsing candidates. Wade has denied wrongdoing, and the Board of Judicial Conduct declined to take up Bell's complaint.

The hearing was held in the midst of a campaign to unseat Wade and two other justices who are up for election in August.