An anonymous letter was sent on March 8 to the Porter County Board of Commissioners, Porter County Council, Porter County Superior Court Judge Mary DeBoer, and the county’s human resources director alleging fraudulent timekeeping involving nepotism at the Juvenile Services Department on the part of leadership there.
The letter, which the Post-Tribune obtained a copy of last week, alleges the executive director of the Juvenile Services Department hired a relative as office manager several years ago and that the two have falsified records of their time worked. It also claims retaliation has occurred against other staff members for reporting the alleged wrongdoing.
The director, Amy Beier, did not return calls for comment.
The letter claims Beier “was giving herself credit for time worked that she hadn’t worked by recording incorrect and false records of her work time in the time clock system. This has ranged from minutes, hours, to full days of fraudulent time recorded.”
The letter also contends that the former chief probation officer was demoted for lodging a complaint about the alleged misreporting and resigned in December after 23 years of service, and that four supervisors with a combined experience of nearly 100 years also resigned over the issue last year.
The letter also accuses a department leader of turning a blind eye to the timekeeping practices in the complaint.
Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, said the situation is unusual in that the employees at the Juvenile Services Center are under the management and control of DeBoer. “If something there needs to be corrected I have absolute confidence in Judge DeBoer that that will be done,” he said.
He also expressed caution over the anonymous nature of the letter. “My experience with anonymous letters is you need to be careful of them,” Biggs said. “None of it may be true. At the same time, it may all be true.”
Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary DeBoer on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune)
In an email to the Post-Tribune DeBoer, who oversees the Juvenile Services Department, said her office had not, in fact, received the letter as it states, and had to obtain a copy from the county council.
“Of course, the courts strive to work together with the executive branch, but the separation of powers is such that the county policies are not necessarily the courts’ policies,” she wrote.
Also, Rhonda Young, Porter County’s director of human resources, is not the courts’ HR director, DeBoer explained. “The courts respectfully work alongside of and/or with the other county offices, but as a different branch of government,” DeBoer continued.
While she said it would be inappropriate for her to discuss a specific personnel matter, DeBoer did clarify that the courts have an employee handbook, as well as policies and procedures for timekeeping and addressing allegations of misconduct.
Biggs expounded on that point.
“The courts’ employees are on a different manual from ours,” he said. “Many of the employees over there are actually considered state employees.”
Finally, DeBoer wrote, “There are no instances of a family member reporting directly to another family member in the Circuit Court.”
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
