Report: Ill. Corrections manipulated hiring for phantom post
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A report Tuesday by a state inspector general found that an Illinois prison system administrator improperly ordered the hiring of a family member for a Department of Corrections position that was never authorized.
Larry Sims, the agency's southern region investigations commander, received a 30-day suspension after the Office of the Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor. It found he had designated a relative be hired as an intelligence officer even though that person hadn't applied and someone else had already been chosen.
The review also found that Corrections has for years manipulated hiring for the post of intelligence officer — there are 80 currently on staff and historically, 268 have had the job. Officials deemed the position an extension of the position of prison guard.
But the inspector's report found that most appointments weren't temporary. And its duties differ substantially from that of correctional officer, qualifying it as a separate position improperly created. Openings were not advertised and candidates were typically recruited.
“No official position description exists and the position has never been posted centrally or available to the public,” the report said. “It has been suggested that it is a ‘detail’ or ‘assignment’ ... even though no employee interviewed was informed that the intelligence position was limited in duration, most employees interviewed remained in the Intelligence Unit for years.”
The finding follows a sordid history of hiring shenanigans in Illinois government dating back decades. A 1955 personnel code first attempted to nip wide-open political hiring and the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed it in 1990 in the so-called Rutan case initiated in Illinois. The so-called Rutan...