Iowa secretary of state refunds wages paid to brother

Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz said Thursday that he inadvertently broke the state's nepotism law by giving a temporary job to his college-aged brother and that he has paid back all of the salary his brother received.

Schultz told the Associated Press he was unfamiliar with the details of a law that says state officials generally cannot hire their relatives when he gave the $10-per-hour job to his brother, Andrew Schultz, in January.

After the AP raised questions about the job last month, Schultz said he was surprised to discover that it was not allowed. He said he contacted the Attorney General's Office and paid back $4,908, the amount of wages and payroll taxes the state spent on his brother's three-month position, which ended March 30.

“I take responsibility for the oversight and that's why I paid it back. It won't happen again,” said Schultz, a 32-year-old Republican serving his first term in office. “I didn't think it was a problem. But after I got your questions, I looked into it and found it was.”

Schultz, whose office runs elections in Iowa and maintains business filings, said he “had no idea” that the law applied to his brother's job and neither did his office's lawyer or human resources assistant.

He said he figured that hiring family members was allowed since it is a common practice among state legislators to hire spouses and relatives as clerks during busy session times and was unaware that lawmakers exempted those jobs from the nepotism law.

The law says that public employees in Iowa generally cannot hire anyone related by blood or marriage to the third degree, which includes spouses, siblings, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins. Positions that pay less than $600 per year are exempt, as are legislative clerk jobs and public school teaching positions. Those who violate the law are liable for paying back the salaries paid to their relatives.

Schultz said he offered the college internship to his brother after his office didn't receive any other applications for the position, which was posted on its website.

Andrew Schultz, 22, had recently finished a mission to Las Vegas through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had a few months to spare before starting college at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho. Schultz said his brother answered phones, made copies and performed other clerical work in his Capitol office.

With a laugh, Schultz said he didn't make his brother contribute toward the refund.

“Hopefully he got a good experience,” he said. “I obviously didn't realize that rule and I take responsibility for it.”

The AP discovered the violation after requesting, through the public records law, a list of all employees hired since Schultz took office. The list shows that Schultz has hired many notable state Republicans, such as former state GOP executive director Chad Olsen, who is now Schultz's spokesman; former Republican congressional candidate Jim Gibbons, his chief deputy; and deputy of elections Mary Mosiman, a Republican former auditor of Story County.

Schultz said that he kept on other employees who worked under Michael Mauro, a Democrat he narrowly defeated in the 2010 election, including the elections director, Sarah Reisetter.

“I don't look at my staff's political affiliation,” he said. “I try to hire people based on their skills. Obviously, I have brought some Republicans in with me but it's based on their skills and trust level with me.”