TPSO has resolved issues flagged by auditors

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office has complied with recommendations posed by the state Legislative Auditor last year relating to retired Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois’ alleged illegal actions, a private auditing company said in a report made public Monday.

Legislative Auditor Daryl Pupera’s office alleged in a report released last July that Bourgeois improperly charged the sheriff’s office for fuel expenses and exceeded the statutorily set maximum for a sheriff’s salary by $17,225 over his four-year term. Bourgeois utilized a $600 per year clothing allowance and cashed in about $16,000 worth of unused vacation time before his retirement, the auditors said.

Bourgeois, who has maintained he did not break state laws, repaid the sheriff’s office $19,175 last summer. He noted to auditors he was doing so “under protest.”

The state auditors’ report took issue with other decisions Bourgeois made, saying:

• Bourgeois improperly donated security detail to the Nicholls State University football team.

• Twelve deputies who worked 53 hours to film reenactments for the “Cajun Justice” television series were doubly compensated – once by the sheriff’s office and once by the production company – for hours during which they claimed to be working for TPSO due to a lack of oversight.

• The sheriff’s office did not take proper action to collect delinquent property taxes from 2009-12 owed by Baby Oil Company. The sheriff’s office may have violated the state constitution and state law by not selling or seizing Baby Oil properties.

• The office improperly donated roughly $350,000 in inmate labor to perform improvements to a public building.

The CPA firm Bourgeois Bennett conducted the sheriff’s office 2012-13 fiscal year audit. In doing so, the auditors reviewed whether TPSO complied with recommendations made by Pupera’s office. Bourgeois Bennett concluded that preventative policies had been enacted and the sheriff’s office has taken the proper steps to resolve the issues.

Bourgeois Bennett noted the following resolutions:

• The former sheriff repaid the alleged over-the-cap income he received.

• The sheriff’s office has engaged Baby Oil in a lawsuit to recoup delinquent taxes.

• New policies are in place regarding the execution of contracts for inmate labor, preventing the use of deputies for a security detail outside of Terrebonne Parish and regulating the proper compensation for deputy’s off-duty work and sheriff’s office assets.

The sheriff’s office has also formulated a policy to regulate the use of credit cards, auditors said. Under Bourgeois, 56 credit cards were issued; that number has been reduced to three, according to the report.

It’s still unclear whether Bourgeois will face criminal penalties related to the issues uncovered by state auditors. Pupera forwarded the findings to the district attorney, state attorney general and U.S. attorney’s office.

“At this time, nobody asked us to cooperate,” Larpenter said. “There may be an investigation ongoing, but we haven’t been notified.”

Larpenter’s administration, meanwhile, was cited for misclassifying the office’s retirement costs and for donating a vehicle to a nonprofit organization without contractual assurance it would be used for public safety. Larpenter said both issues, which he referred to as “small glitches,” have been rectified.

The vehicle, determined surplus property, was donated to The Haven, a refuge for victims of domestic and sexual violence. Larpenter said he executed an act of donation, transferred the title and signed a cooperative endeavor agreement pertaining to the transfer, but did not initially include a clause mandating its use for public safety, according to auditors. After the issue was raised, Larpenter sent a letter to that effect, he said.

“We did that as soon as we were notified,” Larpenter said.

TPSO, auditors also discovered, were not withholding the proper amount of income taxes related to retirement costs from employees’ paychecks, according to Buzz Anderson, the office’s internal auditor.

Because the sheriff’s office pays the employees’ retirement share, the income is taxable. Employees were being charged the taxes on the back end, when they filed their tax returns, Andersen said.

That issue, which long went unnoticed, was fixed on Jan. 1, Anderson said.

Jerry Larpenter