The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has been ordered to pay detention officers more than $2 million in overtime to cover unpaid work that spanned two years.
The payment comes after a 10-month investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The county will pay $2,059,807 to 1,690 detention officers who were not paid while attending MCSO briefings before their shifts began. This occurred from October 2007 to March 2009, said county spokesman Richard de Uriarte.
Employees complained to county officials, who began their own investigation in addition to the federal examination.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will be required to pay the employees from his detention fund. The sheriff’s office did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.
The county Board of Supervisors said the overtime issue was a result of the sheriff’s inadequate record keeping and not enforcing time-sheet policies.
ciara500 posted at 8:18 am on Thu, May 27, 2010.
Arpaio may have mispent money? I wouldn't trust some of our elected officials. They spend money we don't have that could be used for different things.
Rich posted at 8:13 am on Thu, May 27, 2010.
If a private employer failed to pay employees over two million, could he avoid jail time, a hefty fine? Government doesn't work because we let politicians get away with incompetence and corruption. It's time to hold politicians as accountable as they force us to be.
tigger41 posted at 7:25 am on Thu, May 27, 2010.
Guess the Board of Supervisors needed to retaliate for the recent investigations of one of their own members.
No surprises there...
retired03 posted at 4:48 am on Thu, May 27, 2010.
just another example of his mismanagement. Is there a surprise here?
samkat posted at 9:57 pm on Wed, May 26, 2010.
Send the bill to the Board of Supervisors since they control the purse stings. It is nice to see that they are so efficient.
forkedlift1 posted at 7:30 pm on Wed, May 26, 2010.
Nice to read that that one's been resolved. One down, fifteen to go.