AG personnel probe widens; search warrant issued on governor's office
05/17/2005
By MARK R. CHELLGREN / Associated Press
Investigators served search warrants on Gov. Ernie Fletcher's office and others Tuesday, widening the net cast to find evidence of abuse of the state personnel system.
Warrants were also delivered to Lt. Gov. Steve Pence's office and others along the suite of gubernatorial offices in the Capitol.
Calls for comment to the offices were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon. Fletcher is traveling on a trade mission to Asia.
Attorney General Greg Stumbo said the investigation thus far has focused on allegations of improper political influence in hiring, transfers and promotions of employees covered by the Merit System, the state civil service program created to keep employment decisions based on merit rather than politics.
Documents already released show regular communications between the Transportation Cabinet and officials in Fletcher's office about filling positions in central office and in highway garages across the state. The copied e-mails, handwritten notes and other documents show consideration given to loyalty to past Republican efforts and relations to local power brokers.
Also Tuesday, cabinet employees were warned about destroying evidence of abuse of the state personnel system and invited to pass along any information they may have.
An e-mail, sent by the attorney general's office to all cabinet employees, reminded them of a court order that directs the preservation of records of all Merit System personnel actions since January 2004.
Among the central figures in the exchanges are Dave Disponett, the treasurer of the Kentucky Republican Party who has been working as a volunteer in Fletcher's office; and Richard Murgatroyd, a former state representative who was deputy secretary in the Transportation Cabinet before he joined Fletcher's office as deputy chief of staff.
The Merit System was created in 1960 to provide job protections for rank-and-file state workers from political pressures. While governors have broad latitude to appoint the highest managers in state government, ordinary workers are supposed to be selected and promoted through established personnel procedures based on qualifications.
The investigation was kicked off by a raft of documents turned over by Doug Doerting, a personnel officer in the cabinet. Doerting has been designated a "whistleblower" by the attorney general's office and protected from retribution for his role.
Since then, at least two other employees have come forward with additional evidence and steady stream of calls from other Transportation workers, Stumbo said Tuesday.
While the specific allegations thus far are confined to the Transportation Cabinet, Stumbo said his office has "heard the rumors" of misconduct in other agencies.
Violations of the Merit System are generally considered misdemeanor charges and therefore have a one-year statute of limitations for prosecutions, Stumbo said.
Murgatroyd is traveling with the governor on the trade mission this week.
Acting Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert, meanwhile, said the cabinet's own preliminary inquiry into personnel problems will be shelved while the other investigations are pending.
Nighbert also said he told cabinet employees to cooperate with investigators and promised he would not tolerate any retribution against people who are helping.
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AG Stumbo said the charges so far involve about 500 employees. He declines at this time to say what officials might be implicated. |
