An employee at the Arkansas Department of Information Systems violated the state's vehicle policy and the department abused its use of contract labor, according to a legislative audit report released Thursday.
The report said auditors found 13 instances where contract labor was used longer than is allowed under state law -- more than six consecutive weeks or 240 hours over three months -- resulting in $31,640 in unauthorized pay for temporary workers. Auditors also found that one employee violated the state's take-home car policy by not reporting the use of the car to commute to work on his taxes for the entire 2013 fiscal year.
The Department of Information Systems manages the state's Internet, phone and data networks for public schools and various state agencies.
Herschel Cleveland, deputy director of the department, said the employee who had been given the take-home car retired this week. Cleveland said the employee was in charge of maintenance at the department's service towers across the state.
"We have taken steps to ensure this won't happen again by revising our policies regarding the use of vehicles," Cleveland said. "He was authorized to use the vehicle because when you go home you never know when you'll be called out."
Jerry Pack, the department's chief financial officer, said the department was working on a large project during the audit time frame and wasn't aware of the state's limit on temporary labor.
The department has been the subject of increasing scrutiny as the state wrestles with how to provide affordable and adequate high-speed Internet to students at every school district. Gov. Mike Beebe ordered the Department of Finance and Administration to conduct a full performance audit of the department in August, spurred by concerns about a wide range of prices school districts are paying for Internet service and claims that the state-owned copper infrastructure is costly and outdated.
The department has lost some of its responsibilities as other state agencies, such as the Department of Human Services, opened in-house information technology divisions to manage their individual Internet and communication networks. Part of the Finance and Administration audit will be considering whether Information Systems is operating efficiently in light of those responsibilities being absorbed by other agencies.
Metro on 09/12/2014