The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "State Employees" ...
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America's Great State Payroll Giveaway
A state-employed psychiatrist in California made $822,000 by clocking in 17 hours every day last year, including Sundays and holidays. An employee cashed out with $609,000 for unused vacation when she retired, claiming she never took vacations in a 30-year career. A highway patrol officer collected $484,000 in salary, pension and leave payments. The chief money manager at a Texas pension fund got $1 million in salary and bonuses while posting investment returns that trailed those of peers who earned a quarter as much. Bloomberg News used freedom-of-information laws to obtain 1.4 million payroll records from the 12 largest states and show how taxpayers funded these out-of-control expenses and more, while at the same time states cut funding for universities, public safety, health care, schools and services aimed at the neediest residents.
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Hospital at Risk
My investigation of the Minnesota Security Hospital, a state-run facility that provides psychiatric treatment to nearly 400 adults deemed "mentally ill and dangerous," uncovered high rates of violence and injuries of employees and patients at the facility, a critical shortage of psychiatrists, and widespread confusion among employees about what to do when a patient becomes violent. I found that much of confusion was the result of the abrasive, threatening management style of head administrator David Proffitt, who was hired in 2011 to reform the facility. I began investigating Proffitt and found he was hired without a basic background check. I uncovered many troubling details from Proffitt's past, including domestic violence, a PhD from a now-defunct online degree mill, a forced resignation from his previous job as the administrator of a private psychiatric hospital in Maine, and other failings. The state ordered Proffitt to resign and the Minnesota legislative auditor began an audit of the department's hiring practices. The assistant commissioner of the Department of Human Services who led the hiring search also resigned. The governor proposed $40 million in renovations to address safety concerns. Regulators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited the facility for the first time in 21 years. The facility also implemented new training for employees to reduce violence. My investigation of the facility continues.
Tags: Psychiatrists; domestic violence; injuries
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Moonlight Patrol
After a grueling odyssey through the Pennslyvania courts, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Associated Press obtained heavily redacted copies of 1,038 supplemental employment forms filed over the previous six and a half years by state troopers and the agency's civilian employees. Despite assurances to the contrary, the Trib uncovered numerous violations of statute and state regulations regarding the after-hours employment of the police.
Tags: employment; police; after hours; pittsburgh police
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Fiesta Bowl Under Fire; BCS The Money. The Games
The Republic's investigation resulted in the discovery of violations of state and federal campaign finance laws at the Fiesta Bowl and widespread financial mismanagement, including employees being reimbursed for taking luxurious out-of-town trips and visits to strip clubs.
Tags: The Republic; State and Federal Campaign Finance Law; Fiesta Bowl; BCS
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California's Public Pension Dilemma
The Contra Costa Times found that California public employee pension systems are grossly underfunded; the benefits far exceeded the private sector and are regularly understated by the pension systems; the debts for state and local governments are huge; and the cost is being transferred over to future generations.
Tags: California; Public Pensions; State; Local; Government
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Native Americans Tribues Shield Parents from Child Support
Many mothers in California, and around the country, can't get child support payments from Native American fathers or tribal casino employees. That's because tribes are sovereign nations and don't have to honor state or federal child support orders. Without the child support payments, many of the mothers survive on food stamps and welfare.
Tags: Native Americans; child support; welfare; tribes
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St. Bernard Voting Fraud
In an effort to preserve the sense of community in St. Bernard, and other similar parishes affected by Hurricane Katrina, the state passed legislation allowing residents to continue to vote at their previous residences, even if they were living outside of the parish during the rebuilding process. Fast forward six years. 2011. The rebuilding of St. Bernard continues, but with a post-Katrina population of 35,000, the parish has a fraction of its former residents. While some property owners have returned, many have moved to St. Tammany Parish. This is where WVUE's investigation begins. The investigative team received a tip that a St. Bernard Sheriff's Department employee lived in St. Tammany Parish, but was still voting in St. Bernard. This tip came right after the primary in St. Bernard's critical fall elections. The WVUE-TV team requested all voting records for the election, and found out that the deputy was the tip of the iceberg; illegal voting was widespread.
Tags: broadcast; voter fraud; Hurricane Katrina
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Supreme Court Spat
This story, produced by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and Wisconsin Public Radio, was first to report on a June 13 altercation in which Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser placed his hands on the neck of fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in a dispute in her office in front of other members of the court. The article reported that the argument concerned the timing of the court's release of a decision upholding Republican Gov. Scott Walker's controversial bill to curb the collective bargaining rights of the state's public employees, and that the Capitol Police Department and the Wisconsin Judicial Commission were informed of the incident. The story also revealed that the Capitol police chief had come in to speak to the court's seven members about it. Although the initial story relied on anonymous sources, all of the facts were subsequently confirmed by on-the-record interviews, and later by police reports.
Tags: Wisconsin Supreme Court; police
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"Fiesta Bowl Under Fire" "BCS The Money. The Games"
Discovery of violations of state and federal campaign finance laws at the Fiesta Bowl and widespread financial mismanagement, including employees being reimbursed for taking luxurious out-of-town trips and visits to strip clubs. The investigation of the BCS found that public universities lose money playing in BCS games; bowls spend heavily on gifts for schools' top athletic officials; pay for the highest executives at the BCS bowls more than doubled since they reunited in the late 1990s; and three of the top bowls accepted large government subsidies even as their revenue and assets have grown.
Tags: BCS; Fiesta Bowl; college; football; fraud; financial mismanagement
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Birthdates Controversy
Government agencies and legislators in Oklahoma had fought unsuccessfully to make the birth dates of public employees confidential despite state open records laws. The investigation found that the state makes millions of dollars selling birth dates of regular citizens.
Tags: birthdates; open records; public employees; union; public