Sheriff’s audit complete but questions remain

A state watchdog agency is the next likely place where issues arising from the lone term of former Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois will be examined, now that private auditors have received the responses prepared by his successor.

With responses to their questions from Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter in hand, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor can make further determinations.

Bourgeois maintains that during his term of office, which began in 2008 and ended this year, he did nothing inappropriate or illegal.

But allegations that a television show may have used parish property without compensation and Bourgeois’ failure to attempt collection of nearly $300,000 in taxes allegedly owed by a local oil company – as well as other issues – have placed the former sheriff in an uncomfortable spotlight.

Larpenter, who preceded Bourgeois in office and then succeeded him, completed his response to the private auditors Friday. Larpenter states in his letter that he expects a complete audit of Bourgeois’ term to be done by the state Legislative Auditor.

“It is my belief that the issues raised were the result of a lack of oversight by the previous sheriff’s administration,” Larpenter concludes. “During my 21 years as sheriff I can never remember an audit that had so many questions and deficiencies as this audit had for the 2011-2012 fiscal year … I can assure you that my administration and my department heads will follow the laws of the State of Louisiana and the United States, and we have begun and will continue to correct all of the deficiencies of the previous administration, so as to ensure the taxpayers of Terrebonne Parish that the chief law enforcement agency of the parish is following the law, just as we expect the citizens of this parish to follow the law.”

Still unanswered is the question of whether Louisiana Workforce LLC, a private company that runs the parish’s work release program, got an unwarranted break of nearly $800,000 when Bourgeois and the company’s CEO, Paul Perkins, verbally altered a contract that included a raise in pay to the parish from $9 to $12 per inmate. Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, in an opinion furnished at Larpenter’s request, said a contract can be amended verbally. But Caldwell’s office noted that an addendum to the contract, signed by Perkins and Bourgeois, contained no date.

If any money is due to the parish, the opinion states, there is no way to determine for now how much.

Bourgeois and Perkins have stated in interviews that the changes were made because of inability to fill the work release quarters due to a hurricane, the inability to use work release inmates during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, and a high unemployment condition in the parish.

So that question, Larpenter has noted – whether money is due the parish and if so how much – has yet to be answered.

Other issues raised in the audit included problems with the purchasing policy, inability to show what purpose federal grant money was used for, and inconsistencies with vacation and sick leave.

Larpenter’s response shows corrections to those policies and compliance with the auditors’ recommendations.