Iowa auditor’s report adds to improper disbursements by 6th District correctional services

DES MOINES - A new report from the State Auditor shows the 6th Judicial District Department of Correctional Services misspent nearly $2 million over 14 years by allowing district employees to work on behalf of a related non-profit.

Tuesday's report is a long-awaited addendum to a January 2014 report showing $776,000 in improper disbursements from fiscal 2009 through fiscal 2012. The addendum identified an additional $1.19 million in improper disbursements by extending the review period and examining two more district employees who spent time working with the Community Corrections Improvement Association.

'They're rehashing some of what came out in the first report,” said Bruce Vander Sanden, district director.

Vander Sanden and other district leaders hoped the addendum would clarify what they saw as misunderstandings in the first review, which cast the district as deceptive and wasteful. That redemption didn't happen.

'They stand by their first report even after we provided them with the email communications about the year-end deficit (and) the CCIA-6th DCS contracts signed off by various DOC officials over the years approving the arrangement of technical assistance and office space,” Vander Sanden said. 'They don't recognize our policies or board authority.”

The district made massive changes since the 2014 audit, severing ties with CCIA and reducing vacation time. The district took over a CCIA-operated Batterer's Education Program in 2012 - something the State Auditor's Office says should have been done earlier.

'The District may have realized an estimated savings of $285,000.00 if the District had administered the Batter's Education Program (BEP) rather than CCIA,” the addendum states.

The report repeats concerns raised in a July 1 audit that employees in three of Iowa's eight correctional services districts, including the 6th, claimed up to a week more in vacation a year than they were entitled to under state law. The extra time off in the 6th district amounted to nearly $171,500 in 'potential improper liabilities,” the report states.

State Auditor Mary Mosiman admits in the report there are differing opinions about whether district employees are considered state employees in other matters, such as payroll, benefits and retirement programs. She asks the Iowa Legislature to clarify this question and recommends the Iowa Department of Corrections, which provides the bulk of the districts' funding, set rules.

Iowa's correctional services districts provide probation and parole programming to Iowa offenders. The 6th District serves Linn, Johnson, Jones, Iowa, Benton and Tama counties.

The addendum was forwarded to the Iowa Attorney General's Office, which will review it to see whether any criminal charges apply, said AG Spokeswoman Geoff Greenwood.

CCIA, founded in 1991 by former district director Gary Hinzman, has suffered financially since the 2014 audit and will dissolve by the end of the year.

The non-profit founded several initiatives, including Children of Promise, which provided mentors for children with a parent in prison, sponsored a foster grandparent program for at-risk kids and ran a youth leadership program. Other grants provided housing subsidies for needy parolees and mentoring for drug court offenders.