Published: May 19, 2008 10:37 pm         

Officials seek purchasing card probe

Jail personnel not properly trained on use

CHARLESTON — Purchasing cards were pulled from West Virginia’s network of regional jails three weeks ago, and two Fayette County lawmakers want a full accounting on that decision.

Ostensibly, the cards were removed because certain personnel haven’t been trained in their usage.

“Why not?” asked Delegate Dave Perry, D-Fayette, after the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, which he co-chairs, broached the subject.

Cedric Greene, deputy director of the regional jail system, advised the panel about a decision to suspend the cards until an audit is conducted.

“Why did they put the cards out there without the training and without certifying the person?” Perry wondered. “I’m sure with the maintenance persons at each facility it wouldn’t be too hard to train or identify what’s necessary for purchases.”

Without elaborating, Perry said it “would appear that there may be some problems with the p-cards.”

But the delegate quickly added he wasn’t implying there has been any abuse of the debitlike cards that are used to facilitate the purchase of equipment at jails.

“But information that I have is there may be some problems and there are problems with speed to access for equipment and so forth,” he said.

Perry indicated he had received complaints from maintenance employees who were unable to perform immediate and necessary maintenance because of their inability to access the cards for parts and equipment.

Greene told the committee that cell phones are still in use.

“I think that was a shallow response,” Perry said. “A lot of what we discussed today seems like a broken record. And it’s getting a little vexing at this point to continue to talk about the same subjects and the same issues. Somewhere, the oversight committee needs to either have more teeth or at least perhaps it’s time the secretary responded instead of different department heads.”

Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, the other co-chair, said the prospect of a breakdown in heating equipment is a major concern with him.

“Imagine having to live in that situation for one, two or three days in subzero temperatures without heat,” Love said.

Suppose, he speculated, the only management personnel authorized to permit use of the cards are out of state, visiting relatives over the Christmas or Thanksgiving holidays.

“You think those things don’t happen, but they do happen,” Love said. “You could be without water. You could have a freeze. It seems like common sense sometimes doesn’t prevail in state government, and this could be one of those instances.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com