CHARLESTOWN — Town Councilman James A. Mageau has asked the state police to investigate whether the Planning Commission chairwoman violated state law by using her University of Rhode Island e-mail account to conduct town business.

Lt. LeRoy Rose, assistant detective commander, confirmed Friday that he received the Sept. 28 letter written by Mageau and said he will review it.

Mageau contends that commission Chairwoman Ruth Platner, a senior programmer analyst at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography, may have violated state law and university policy by engaging in electronic communications from her URI e-mail account.

Platner has rebutted the accusation, calling it “a frivolous complaint . . . meant to harass me [and] force me out of the Planning Commission.”

Dave Lavallee, URI’s spokesman, said the university’s lawyer had reviewed the matter and found no breach of policy.

URI’s Computing and Network Use Policies allow employees to use the university’s computer for personal purposes “when it does not interfere with normal business activities” and as long as it does not involve “solicitation, personal financial gain, outside business activities, or political campaigning.”

John Merrill, Platner’s supervisor, called her an “extraordinarily conscientious” employee.