WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy made at least 20 government-paid trips to his home state of Mississippi during his first 20 months in office, many of them on weekends, according to travel documents released by his office Friday.

Although Espy often conducted some official business on these trips, he acknowledged in an interview that he also used them as an opportunity to visit family, support his brother's bid for Congress and maintain relationships in Mississippi.

"They were legitimate trips," insisted Espy, who released his travel records as part of an effort to dispel allegations that he improperly accepted travel and sports tickets from private firms with interests regulated by the Agriculture Department. His activities are under scrutiny by a court-appointed independent counsel, Los Angeles attorney Donald C. Smaltz.

There is no law that prevents top federal officials from scheduling official travel to locations where they also have personal or political interests, as long as they reimburse the government for any purely personal expenses incurred during the trip.

However, it is unusual for Cabinet members to spend so much time in their home states at government expense, according to informal surveys during previous administrations.

Espy's Mississippi jaunts punctuated an unusually hectic official travel schedule that took him to 114 cities in the United States and 16 foreign countries between the time he took office in January, 1993, and last month.

In addition to his more than 20 official trips to Mississippi, Espy said, he frequently visited his home state at his own expense. Divorced from his wife, who lives in Mississippi, he said he tries to visit his two children there as often as possible.

On Thursday, before releasing his travel records, Espy repaid $193 to the government for lodging in Jackson, Miss., more than a year ago that he originally claimed as a business expense and recently has deemed to be personal in nature. He said the decision was in line with his policy to be scrupulously careful about separating business and personal activities.

In an interview with The Times, Espy--who served three terms in Congress representing a Mississippi district--explained that he made more official trips to his home state than any other state because he has received an unusually large number of invitations from Mississippi.