Ann Precythe – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

House budget plan aims to improve harassment investigations in Department of Corrections

The latest version of the House’s proposed budget would restructure the Department of Corrections, in light of how it handled cases of harassment and retaliation against employees.

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob) said his plan would redirect money that goes to the Department’s offices of Inspector General and Human Resources, and create an Office of Professional Standards.

Fitzpatrick said he worked with Corrections Director Anne Precythe in developing his proposal.

“She’s making significant changes to the Department,” said Fitzpatrick. “The Department of Corrections has an inspector general, currently, which I think has been doing a sub-par job, and that’s what I’ve gotten from the director.”

The House in January announced the creation of the Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct after a news article revealed the Department had settled numerous lawsuits filed by former employees who had been harassed. Those settlements were costing the state millions of dollars.

The subcommittee’s chairman, Representative Jim Hansen (R-Frankford), said the committee came to a similar conclusion about the job that the inspector general had been doing.

“In the hearings it appeared to me like there was a lot of confusion concerning who’s doing what when it comes to [human resources] and the investigators handling the cases, of who’s handling what, who knows what’s going on. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing,” said Hansen. “I think it needs to be streamlined … there needs to be adjustment made and a review of everybody’s responsibility, and maybe be able to put this under one silo on who’s going to handle it and who’s reporting to who, and how fast it can get to the top.”

Fitzpatrick’s spending plan would reallocate within the Department’s budget more than $2.3-million to create the new office.

“We’ve created that in its own section in the budget, and [Director Precythe’s] plan is to use that to try to build more trust in the institution of the Department of Corrections, and to better deal with the personnel issues that they’ve been having, that have been creating these large claims,” said Fitzpatrick.

Missouri Department of Corrections Director Ann Precythe (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Precythe did not speak to House Communications for this story, but the Department did supply a memo from her dated March 14. In that, she said the Office of Professional Standards will be made up of the Civil Rights Unit (formerly Human Resources), the Employee Conduct Unit (formerly the office of Inspector General), and the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Unit.

She said new processes would “begin soon” and, “we are still fine tuning the remaining details,” but said, “We are changing our investigative processes to allow institutions to handle most offender-related incidents. This change allows us to reallocate resources into the Civil Rights Unit. The Civil Rights Unit will conduct investigations into allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and unprofessional conduct. With additional resources, the Human Relations Officers will be able to conduct and complete investigations even faster than they do now.”

“In addition, Human Relations Officers will soon be conducting training statewide for all employees and will be doing additional outreach and follow up with employees who feel that they have been subjected to discrimination, harassment, retaliation or unprofessional conduct. More Human Relations Officers also means more opportunities for them to visit institutions and offices throughout the state and interact with employees outside of the investigative process.”

Precythe explained the Employee Conduct Unit would investigate employee violations of procedure, unexpected offender deaths, suicides, and potential homicides. Those investigations would be assisted by law enforcement in certain cases.

Fitzpatrick’s budget also removes the “E” found on many lines in the budget. Those Es represents an open-ended spending limit on funds in which legislators expect money beyond what they allocate might be needed before the next budget is created. One such E was found on the budget line from which comes money for settlements the state must pay.

Fitzpatrick and others have said it is because that line had an “E” that legislators were unaware for years of the settlements involving the Department, and the harassment and retaliation issues that caused them. By removing the E, agencies must now come to the legislature and explain why they would need additional money for court settlements. That could shed light on recurring problems such as the Corrections Department had.

Fitzpatrick said he also proposes putting an appropriation for legal expenses in the budget of each state agency, whereas before the money for settlements across all agencies came from one line.

“It’ll make sure that we can still pay claims and judgments against the state, but it’ll also put some skin in the game from the departments’ perspective so that the effects of their actions aren’t something that they don’t feel,” said Fitzpatrick.

The House continues work this week on a budget proposal to send to the Senate. Once the House and Senate agree on a spending plan it must still go to Governor Eric Greitens (R).

New Corrections head to House budget makers: hold off on talk of a new prison

Some state lawmakers have questioned whether Missouri will soon need another prison, but the prison system’s new director hopes to keep that from being necessary.

Missouri Department of Corrections Director Ann Precythe testifies to the House Budget Committee February 14, 2017. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick told his committee and Corrections Department leaders this week that he’s concerned about the overall trend in recent years, of an increase in Missouri prisons’ populations. Department staff said the state’s prisons are operating at or near capacity, with around 32,000 inmates.

Fitzpatrick referenced a recent case in which a man who molested and exposed himself to his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter was sentenced to only a few months in prison.

“I think a lot of that is pressures on judges and prosecutors, knowing that we’re at capacity,” said Fitzpatrick. “I don’t want child molesters getting four months, or people who are exposing themselves and doing things like that to children getting out of jail like that.”

Despite the state’s current budget picture, in which legislators are looking for ways to cut and are expected to seek little or no new spending, Fitzpatrick told the committee, “Seems to me that we’re on a collision course with a new prison, and that may be something that we have to look at. I’d rather see if we could do something to make it where we didn’t need as many prisons, but if it comes down to giving child molesters four months in jail or building a new prison, I am in favor of building a new prison.”

The Department’s new director, Ann Precythe, told lawmakers her preference would be to keep the state from needing more prison space.

“When I saw the need to expand and increase beds, my initial reaction is, ‘Wait a minute, we need to review what’s happening.’” said Precythe. “Where are we getting the best bang for the buck? And that’s going to be keeping people in the community, and then what are we doing to keep them in the community and help them not reoffend.”

Precythe said she wants the Department to focus on being more efficient financially, and on finding ways to reduce recidivism.

“My commitment to this committee is not to come back to you and say we need to build more prison beds. I think we need to be criminal justice smart on crime and not just pay for crime, and there are ways to do that,” said Precythe.

Precythe, who was chosen in December by Governor Eric Greitens to head the department, said she’s not ready to discuss what policy changes she might ask for in addressing recidivism and prisons’ populations. She expects to be able to tell lawmakers by next year what the future of the state’s prison system looks like.

Precythe said the age of Missouri’s prisons must also be accounted for when considering whether additions are necessary. The state’s oldest, Algoa Correctional Center near Jefferson City, is a minimum-security facility that became a prison in 1932. The new director has toured it and said it appears to be meeting what Missouri needs of it.

New prison system director talks to House committee about harassment, more

The “primary focus” for the incoming Director of the Department of Corrections is dealing with reports of harassment and retaliation within the department. That’s what Ann Precythe said after talking to a House subcommittee created to review those reports.

Missouri's Department of Corrections Director-designee Ann Precythe talks to the House Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Missouri’s Department of Corrections Director-designee Ann Precythe talks to the House Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

A news article citing court documents said some Corrections employees had been the victims of harassment by other employees. Some were retaliated against after reporting incidents, and some cases led to lawsuits that have resulted in millions of dollars of legal settlements by the state, with more pending.

Precythe spoke to the House Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct about her plans for the department. After her presentation she told reporters there is a “phenomenal framework” in place for dealing with custody and control and prison operations.

“My focus is really getting to staff treatment, employee morale; the things that make a difference that don’t cost the taxpayers a dime to work on. Those are the things that I am focusing on right now. That’s my number one priority,” said Precythe. “It’s a new day in Corrections. It’s a new administration and we’re getting ready to move forward with a new culture for corrections.”

Precythe previously served as the Director of Community Corrections in North Carolina before being appointed in Missouri by Governor Eric Greitens (R). She told the committee North Carolina’s corrections system had a “zero tolerance” policy regarding harassment.

“In North Carolina we have the words, ‘zero tolerance,’ written in our policy and they were capitalized and they were bold,” said Precythe. “I think that’s important that I establish a zero tolerance for reporting when sexual harassment, workplace harassment, or retaliation has occurred, and then I think it’s important to have a zero tolerance for responding to those complaints when they’re alleged.”

“The zero tolerance does not necessarily mean everybody gets put on administrative leave or subsequently gets fired, but it means that we’re going to take all complaints seriously and we’re going to look into them,” Precythe told lawmakers.

Precythe said she is still gathering information about what has happened in the department. She told the committee, “I don’t have the answers for certainty about what’s not working or why, but I do know what can work and how to implement it.”

She said that means focusing on holding staff accountable, training and education, and making sure staff understands what professionalism in the workplace looks like.

Missouri’s entry-level corrections officers are the lowest paid in the nation. Some have asked whether that could contribute to harassment issues, by lessening morale and making the keeping of the best employees more difficult.

Precythe said she thinks the pay should be considered, “but I don’t believe that that’s the driving force. I think that folks want to be valued. They want to be taken seriously. They want to be appreciated. They want to be recognized. They want to be acknowledged for the good things … this is about a good working environment for all employees regardless of the business that you’re in, and that’s what I’m bringing back to Missouri.”

Representative Jim Hansen chairs the House Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The subcommittee’s chairman, Representative Jim Hansen (R-Frankford), said he was pleased with Precythe’s plans for a zero tolerance policy, and to focus on employee promotion and morale.

“She understands it. She knows what the issues are and she’s already working on that behind the scenes, so yeah I’m satisfied with where she’s at,” said Hansen.

As for the committee’s work, he said he it has a long way to go.

“We’ve got employees and staff that we want to interview. We want to get as much information as we can to help make the changes that we need to make,” said Hansen.

He said the subcommittee’s next hearing could be as early as next week.