CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio Supreme Court justices Terrence O'Donnell and Patrick DeWine have been accused of conflicts of interest going into Tuesday's hearing on the future of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) online charter school.

ECOT and the Ohio Department of Education have been fighting for two years over state attempts to recover up to $80 million in alleged overpayments of tax dollars to the school. Two previous courts have backed the state but ECOT is asking the Supreme Court to overturn those rulings.

Two left-leaning advocacy groups - Common Cause Ohio and Progress Ohio - have asked Justice O'Donnell to step down from the case last week because he received a campaign donation from ECOT founder William Lager.

O'Donnell also has a previous relationship with the school, having spoken at its 2013 graduation.

Accusations against Justice DeWine are more muddled. DeWine also received a campaign donation from Lager, which some would perceive as bias toward the school.

But he is facing discplinary action for actions suggestive of the opposite bias - toward the state - because he is son of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. That complaint is not centered on ECOT, but has implications for any case that has the state as a party, which the ECOT case does.

Here are the basics of each concern:

Justice O'Donnell: O'Donnell, a former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge, has served on the Ohio Supreme Court since 2003.

Common Cause Ohio and Progress Ohio on Jan. 31 asked him to step down from the ECOT case and asked the court's disciplinary counsel to investigate his ties to the school.

Those include a $3,450 campaign donation from Lager in 2012, his address to ECOT's 2013 graduates and O'Donnell already going against other justices in support of ECOT.

The court last July denied a request from ECOT to block the state from recovering money from the school while the appeal is pending. O'Donnell was the lone dissenting vote to take ECOT's side.

The graduation speech praises the students for persevering through challenges and talks about liberties protected under the Bill of Rights. O'Donnell also talks about receiving a personal invitation by phone to speak from Lager.

"It goes without saying that most people would be unable to get a sitting high court justice on the phone with such ease," the complaint states.

Click here to watch his speech. His introduction starts just after the 1-hour mark.

O'Donnell did not respond to the complaint or to questions The Plain Dealer emailed to his office.

Justice DeWine: A former Hamilton County Common Pleas and appeals court judge, DeWine was elected as a Supreme Court justice in 2016.

In December, 2015, he received a $3,600 donation from Lager.

But others have accused him of showing a bias toward the state in earlier matters, particularly in favor of positions taken by his father. Those concerns were just backed Jan. 30 by the findings of a special disciplinary counsel brought in to investigate DeWine.

Those findings called for DeWine to avoid involvement in any cases "in which his father is involved in any way."

In the past, the findings note, DeWine previously only avoided hearing issues that his father was personally handling.

"Before becoming a Supreme Court Justice, I sought legal guidance from the Supreme Court's in-house ethics expert, as well as another legal ethics expert, who is a respected former Appeals Court Judge," DeWine said in a prepared respnse to the findings. "I have followed that advice to the letter.

A panel of three judges from around the state will hold a hearing to see if any sanctions are merited for his handling of the earlier matters. That hearing has not been scheduled yet.

"The voters of Ohio knew my father was Attorney General when they sent me to the Supreme Court," DeWine added in his written response. "They did not perceive any conflict in a father and son serving in these two positions and I think the voters were correct."

The complaint and Jan. 30 findings do not include the ECOT case. But the Ohio Department of Education is officially represented by the attorney general. Though the department has hired an outsde firm to handle the ECOT case, those lawyers are listed in court filings as "Special Counsel to Attorney General Mike DeWine."

DeWine has not respond to emailed questions about the ECOT case.

Sandy Theiss of Progress Ohio said her organization did not ask DeWine to step down because his conflicts go both ways.

"We're watching it," she said.