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ODNR in trouble again. Ohio Inspector General Report.

Jackalope

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OHIO INSPECTOR GENERAL FINDS 18 WILDLIFE OFFICERS ENGAGED IN WRONGFUL ACTIVITY
Columbus, Ohio, December 13, 2013


The inspector general issued a report of investigation today which found 18 employees from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife acted wrongfully.

The initiative began as the inspector general completed an earlier investigation which resulted in the criminal prosecution and conviction of two Ohio Department of Natural Resources wildlife officers who were deer hunting while on duty in Brown County. Suspecting the activities might be more than an isolated incident, the inspector general launched a review of the timekeeping records for the days when any of the 490 employees at the division of wildlife reported harvesting a deer. The timekeeping records for 18 wildlife employees contained conflicting information which showed wrongful activity: either the employee was on-duty while engaged in deer hunting activities, or off-duty and falsifying work records to obtain pay they were not entitled to receive.Prosecuting attorneys in several Ohio counties have been provided the report of investigation for further consideration: Adams, Belmont, Butler, Champaign, Columbiana, Defiance, Fayette,Franklin, Gallia,Geauga,Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Mercer, Sandusky,Stark,Vinton, and Wyandot.

http://watchdog.ohio.gov/Investigations/2013Investigations.aspx
 

brock ratcliff

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Ha! Dang. Looks like Highland and Fayette both may be in trouble. No wonder I can't get them to call me back.
 

Buckmaster

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Portage
That's the main reason I didn't go into Wildlife Management. I interviewed a couple wildlife officers after high school about their jobs.

Their biggest regret was not being able to hunt the main seasons because they would be scheduled working.
 

RedCloud

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North Central Ohio
Surprised it was only 18 to be honest. Figured it would be higher then that.

The last investigation lead to this one and I am sure they will continue to dig for other things and open an entirely new can of worms before it is all said and done.
 

Jackalope

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Surprised it was only 18 to be honest. Figured it would be higher then that.

The last investigation lead to this one and I am sure they will continue to dig for other things and open an entirely new can of worms before it is all said and done.

It's not over by a long shot. They'll be looking for what their bosses knew also.
 

Jackalope

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NVESTIGATIVE SUMMARY On May 9, 2012, the Office of the Ohio Inspector General requested ODNR provide all deer harvest records for the 2009 2010 deer hunting season. Also requested wasa list of Ohio Division of Wildlife employee names and identifying information. The deer harvest records for the 2009 2010
deer hunting season consisted of 500,967 deer harvest records. TheOhio Division of Wildlife employee list totaled 490 employees. This Division of Wildlife employee list was narrowed down to focus on employees who do not have a report-in location.


This brought the list of employees who potentially harvested deer on days they claimed work hours to 122 in either 2009 or 2010. The deer harvest records and the list of wildlife employees were combined into one list and labeled as Master Deer Data. State payroll records were searched for the names of the 122 employees who harvested deer on dates these employees claimed work hours. Employees who claimed some form of permissible leave on days they harvested deer were removed from the list. This narrowed the list to 79 Division of Wildlife employees who potentially harvested deer on days in which they claimed either regular time or overtime worked; or they claimed a type of leave time (i.e., holiday, sick, disability) used during that period. The list was further reduced to 26 employees identified as potentially harvesting and or checking in deer while on duty. The 26 employees were sent letters requesting they contact the Office of the Ohio Inspector General to be interviewed regarding these matters. Only eight responded and

none of those employees agreed to be interviewed. Of the 26 employees, 8 were removed from the list because the Division of Wildlife was unable to locate the original harvest reports that were needed to confirm the identities of the wildlife employees. The Office of the Ohio Inspector General then requested from ODNR the starting and ending times of the employees identified to determine if the deer were harvested during the employees’ paid hours. This brought the number of employees who potentially harvested deer or checked in deer during on-duty hours to 18 individuals in 18 different counties.



So it looks like the DNR is still protecting their own.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
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lmao wtf he was all screwed up


BUTLER COUNTY
Joshua Zientek claimed 14 hours regular pay for December 20, 2009. Zientek harvested a deer on December 20, 2009, at 5:35 p.m. in Butler County and checked the deer in at 9:11 a.m. on January 1, 2010.