Final piece of AG Jackley's anti-corruption package clears Senate

State supervisors who protect employees committing crimes could be charged with felonies

PIERRE – A key piece of Attorney General Marty Jackley’s package of legislation addressing state employee malfeasance cleared the Senate Tuesday after it survived two amendment attempts.

Senate Bill 62 makes it a class-6 felony for a supervisor in state government for failing to report a crime when they know an employee has committed one. Those with supervisory authority are defined as those with the power to hire, lay off, promote, discharge, assign, reward or discipline a state employee.

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The bill was the final piece of Jackley’s package to make it out of the Senate. Included in the anti-corruption legislation is a whistleblower protection provision and an attempt to give the state auditor more oversight – although that bill was watered down from its original version.

Jackley asked lawmakers to consider beefing up state laws after opening a raft of investigations last year into former state employees who are suspected of committing various crimes – from making fake titles to secure loans or tax breaks, submitting bogus health inspection reports to outright theft of $1.8 million in money meant for children in the state’s foster care program.

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