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Lawmakers seek options in misappropriation of funds cases Saturday, Sep 9, 2006 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A state prosecutor cautioned legislators Friday not to overstep their authority as lawmakers ponder whether to take a hand in deciding whether to pursue criminal charges when state audits uncover unauthorized use of funds. Faulkner County Prosecutor H.G. Foster told lawmakers he understood their frustrations, especially in cases where the guilty party appears to be obvious, but he warned that a legislative branch role in criminal prosecutions could violate the constitutional separation of powers. Often, Foster said, prosecutors may think they know who committed a crime but have insufficient evidence to get a conviction. "Insufficient evidence is shorthand for not enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt," he told the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee. Sen. Percy Malone, D-Arkadelphia, suggested a special prosecutor to pursue criminal charges in such cases or changing state law to allow the Legislature to withhold funds to agencies, cities, counties or school that fail to prosecute. "What can we do if we don't feel the system is working?" Malone said. The discussion occurred after auditors presented a report detailing the status and disposition of all matters referred to prosecutors in the past year by the committee or state audits. Lawmakers requested the report in June after learning that the head of the state Board of Architects was not prosecuted after he reimbursed $105,000 in unauthorized travel expenses he received. The unauthorized expenses were discovered by a state audit. Lawmakers also heard this summer that of the 1,800 state audits turned over to local prosecutors since 1980, many of them involving missing money that was reimbursed, charges were filed in just 200 cases. The report Friday showed that from July 1-Dec. 31, 2005, there were 17 instances where an audit report found money misappropriated and the employee was not prosecuted after paying full restitution to either a school district, a county or city. Malone noted several cases in the report, including one where $1,830 in undocumented disbursements were discovered in the Harmony Grove School District in Ouachita County. People working in the district were implicated but the local prosecutor declined to pursue charges at the request of the superintendent. "Are we going to allow the superintendent to say, 'Well, never mind, we're going to get some more funds from the state anyway?'" Malone said. Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, said there appears to be a double standard, because state or school employees are not prosecuted, but average citizens if caught taking money from their employer would be prosecuted. Auditor Roger Norman told lawmakers that state statutes require auditors to refer any discovery of unauthorized disbursements or shortages of funds to prosecutors. "In some situations, yes, the money is gone and someone may be responsible for that, but there's really not enough evidence to show that that person took the money," Norman said. "I think it would put the community and the Legislature in a bad light if they're making recommendations that a prosecutor prosecute someone without sufficient evidence." Charles Robinson, director of the Division of Legislative Audit, said his department has a memorandum of understanding with state police and prosecutors on what to do if irregularities are found during an audit. He said his staff could provide more information in future reports explaining why the prosecutors declined to prosecute. Malone said he would be willing to work with Foster and the state Office of Prosecutor Coordinator to further study the issue to see if anything can be done to make sure that those who illegally take public funds from state agencies, cities or schools are prosecuted. Rep. Chris Thomason, D-Hope, who is the Democratic nominee for prosecutor in Hempstead County and has no Republican opponent in the Nov. 7 general election, said voters make the ultimate decision on whether they think a prosecutor is doing a good job. Thomason also suggested that state department heads should start firing people who are caught misusing public funds, rather than letting them resign. |
