COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admits he used taxpayer money to see his mistress in Argentina and plans to repay the cash.

But the Republican still faces questions about the way he dismissed state law officers assigned to protect him and whether he should have transferred power to his lieutenant while he was away and out of touch.

Sanford disappeared to Buenos Aires for almost a week, returning Wednesday to reveal the affair and publicly apologize to his wife and four sons, his supporters and constituents. He also resigned as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Sanford has said he left his staff with the impression he was heading off for some solo hiking on the Appalachian Trail, a bogus story that they relayed to reporters who began asking where the governor had gone. Reggie Lloyd, chief of the State Law Enforcement Division, said his agency was dismissed from its security duties the day Sanford left for Argentina and then unsuccessfully tried to contact him.

"As an adult male, he's free to come and go as he pleases, and so we just honestly quit looking for him. We actually would have no authority to expend resources to look for him in that circumstance," Lloyd said.