A new bipartisan effort is underway to create a public watchdog agency with subpoena power to investigate fraud and corruption in state government.
On Tuesday, the Delaware General Assembly introduced legislation in the latest effort to create a bipartisan Office of Inspector General.
The office is tasked with conducting investigations, issuing public opinion, and initiating civil proceedings against state officials accused of unethical conduct. The agency's employees would be given subpoena power to compel the disclosure of documents from those under investigation, as well as the authority to launch their own investigations into both violations of state law and the code of conduct for state employees.
State Sen. Laura Sturgeon, D-Western Brandywine Hundred, is one of the bill's lead sponsors. She told reporters it was “very important” that Delawareans have “full trust and confidence” in their government. She pointed out that while Delaware does have oversight agencies like the Comptroller's Office, there is no agency with full investigative powers without political overtones.
Some question whether a state like Delaware, where one party essentially controls the other, can have “really, really strong transparency and accountability,” she noted. did.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I think we can, but if there are any questions, we would be happy to set up an office that is in no way dependent on party politics.”
Under the bill, the Delaware Secretary of State would convene a nominating commission and the governor would select a candidate for the position, subject to confirmation by the Delaware Senate.
The Commissioner will be appointed for a period of five years until the Appointments Committee recommends the Inspector's reappointment or the selection of a new candidate. State officials cannot hold office for three years after leaving state government service.
The department will alert state prosecutors to any violations of law uncovered in the investigation and will publish summary information about the investigation on its public website. Hints from the general public will also be needed.
If the bill is approved by the General Assembly, the goal is for the secretariat to be operational next year.
Old ideas, bipartisan support
Supporters say Delaware is one of 15 states without such an office. And this idea is not new. The state's public watchdog agency has been pushing for such numbers for years.
Two similar bills were introduced in 2022, one by a Democratic senator and one by a Republican House member.
The two were similar in that they established the Office of Inspector General, gave it subpoena power, and tasked it with investigating possible fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption in state government.
However, neither bill was brought forward by legislative leadership for a floor vote in either chamber.
Gov. John Carney's position on the proposal is unclear. His office did not respond to requests for comment on the bill.
The new law has sponsors from both sides. “Responsible government is accountable government,” said the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, who is in the Senate minority.
“Freeing officials and agencies from electoral politics to rein in government is necessary and long-overdue,” Rep. Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) said in a written statement.
Recent:Delaware Republicans want more accountability and transparency for lawmakers
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have proposed their own state oversight measures. These include rules prohibiting state lawmakers from creating conflicts of interest by accepting salaries from nonprofits they are responsible for funding through the state treasury, and establishing an independent ethics office within the General Assembly.
Lack of transparency and accountability
Supporters have long argued that giving subpoena powers to a bipartisan, independent watchdog would meet states' needs. Currently, there are not many shovels in the government's crackdown on corruption, and the state bureaucracy is solidifying the field.
Public records laws give state agencies wide latitude to conceal communication of receipts for work, such as emails, police reports and other records. Once records are made available, there may be a cost to receive them.
Delaware's press corps has also dwindled in recent decades, asking hostile questions of the state's power structure and paying expensive legal fees to fight for transparency in the state's public records laws. Few news organizations have been established.
Litigation may reveal dirt within state government, but usually only in the context of individual litigants seeking payments from the state, even if it results in a major investigation into the work of state employees. Rarely, if ever. Records related to these cases are also often suppressed by broad court-approved protection orders.
Additionally, state public integrity commissions exist primarily to provide advisory opinions at the request of state officials. The committee is also the custodian of members' financial disclosure forms, but does not monitor or scrutinize those disclosures. The inspector general's proposal would provide ethics oversight of lawmakers.
As such, the primary oversight agency is the Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust within the Delaware Department of Justice.
The office has several lawyers and several investigators and is tasked, among other things, with policing public servants. But their offices are small and focus primarily on complaints, with other duties to handle, such as prosecuting civil rights violations and investigating police use of force.
In recent years, they have filed lawsuits against public officials for falsifying documents, police officers for abuse of power, and perhaps the most prominent prosecutor in Delaware's recent history, former Auditor General Cathy McGuinness.
In 2022, Mr. McGuinness was found guilty by a jury of conflict of interest and official misconduct, two misdemeanors, related to his daughter's employment as a part-time employee in the Capitol, making him one of the top 50,000 offenders for any current elected official across the state. This is the first time he has been found guilty. Auditor's Office. A third guilty verdict under state purchasing rules was later reversed by the trial judge, who acquitted her of the felony theft and witness intimidation charges related to her daughter's employment.
Late last month, the state Supreme Court also vacated her official misconduct charge, leaving only her misdemeanor conviction for conflict of interest related to her daughter's employment standing.
Point your finger:Convicted Delaware State Auditor Cathy McGuinness rejects calls to resign
In a public relations battle that preempted election defeat months after conviction, prosecutors file criminal charges against Delaware state legislators despite having power over their own children She claimed that he had unfairly bullied her because of this. under them.
Prosecutors argued that the circumstances in which children of MPs were employed by their parents were different from Mr McGuinness's.
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com.
