HARTFORD, Conn — State auditors released a report Wednesday that said the Division of Public Defender Services paid $22,561 for a largely recreational outing attended by employees and their families. More than half that cost was paid to allow non-state employees to attend.
Calling it a misuse of funds, state auditors said the 2023 annual meeting at an offsite recreational facility was attended by its employees and their families. The report states, "The meeting’s six-hour agenda only included 45 minutes of work-related training. Attendees spent the remaining time participating in recreational activities. The division paid approximately $12,000 for non-state employees to attend this meeting."
The report goes on to say that there were 340 people registered to attend the meeting. They included 142 PDS employees and 198 spouses, partners, or children.
In the report, the agency responded, “The Division agrees with this finding. The Annual meeting in fiscal year 2024 reverted back to a day of training on various pertinent topics held at a central location for only Division employees.”
Other findings in the report found the division did not follow guidelines for determining if a defendant qualified for representation by the office. The same finding has been made in three previous audits. The office said they would run their own audits and conduct trainings to assess the eligibility of people seeking the department's services.
Another finding concerned not following promotion guidelines for the acting human resources director, when the person did not qualify for the position and served in the interim capacity for longer than stipulated.
A review of 15 medical leaves found ten cases in which PDS did not obtain required medical leave forms or they were incomplete or late. The agency also completed annual reports but did not send them to the Chief Justice, Governor, and members of the Judiciary Committee of the General Assembly.
Lastly, the agency was found to have failed in oversight of postal costs. The report notes that an employee was fired after it was found that they used $62 of postage for personal use.
The agency agreed with the findings and said they would increase supervisor training.
A separate finding concerned dual employment arrangements without proper documentation.
Doug Stewart is a Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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