By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton told a panel of lawmakers that it is his responsibility to fix issues with the Administrative Office of Courts revealed in a scathing state audit earlier this month.
“This whole discussion we’re having today is my responsibility, and I need to tell you that I own it wholly and I intend to fix it,” Minton said. “It’s crucial that we safeguard the Judicial Branch as a separate and independent co-equal branch of government, but it’s equally important this court system be transparent and accountable to our sister branches, and to the taxpayers of the commonwealth.”
Minton, Auditor Mike Harmon and AOC Director Laurie Dudgeon appeared before the Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary on Thursday to answer questions about the 214-page audit.
Supreme Court Justice John Minton and AOC Director Laurie Dudgeon testified to a panel of lawmakers about the scathing audit of the office reported last month. (Kentucky Today/Tom Latek)
The report found “disorganized and unchecked leadership in AOC operations,” Harmon said.
Minton testified they were making changes even before Harmon’s staff began their work.
“We were already taking steps to strengthen operations and we’ve done so continuously during the 13 months of this audit.”
He said the AOC is declaring a new day.
“We had the courage to face our weaknesses, now we commit ourselves to make the administration of Kentucky’s court of justice to be the best it can possibly be,” Minton said.
The 13-month examination followed a request by Dudgeon, after news reports about surplus property sales and other issues raised about the agency, which serves as the operational arm of Kentucky’s Judicial Branch and supports court facilities and programs in each county.
The lengthy report had 20 findings where the “AOC failed to follow many of its own policies, and often simply didn’t have sufficient policies to provide transparency and oversight,” according to Harmon.
Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, and a former AOC director himself asked Dudgeon about the office space lease in Whitesburg for Justice Samuel Wright, in a building owned by his family members that was nearly three times as much the other bid.
“The only other bidder made an offer of $7 a square foot and that was before any renovation,” she said. “That space was going to require significant renovation. I did not see it. I took the recommendation of our facilities coordinator, who I completely trusted at that time.”
Dudgeon said “there was a complete lack of documentation in the file. I acknowledge that and agree with the Auditor that none of that had been clearly documented. Had it been, that would completely explain why that lease was entered.”
Minton said some of the other action taken by the AOC include:
–Developed inventory control processes.
–Entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Finance Cabinet for the Executive Branch Division of Surplus Properties to sell Judicial Branch surplus property.
–Implemented waste, fraud and abuse reporting mechanisms.
–Trained managers and staff on purchasing and procurement practices.
–Revised operational procedures regarding reimbursements to county governments for the operation and maintenance of court facilities.
–Hired a tax attorney to provide advice on proposed revisions to travel reimbursement policies being developed by the AOC for recommendation to the Supreme Court.
–Implemented a process to deactivate user accounts for separated/transferred employees on a weekly basis.
Actions taken by the Supreme Court in response to the audit:
–Adopted an Open Records Policy for the AOC.
–Adopted an order governing the handling of the Judicial Branch’s surplus property.
–Adopted amendments to the Kentucky Court of Justice Personnel Policies.
–Adopted the Kentucky Court of Justice Language Access Plan and Procedures.
–Adopted revised Travel Regulations, which will become effective August 1.
The AOC is to make a report to the Auditor’s office in September on progress made in correcting the findings in the report.
