North Dakota lawmakers call for independent investigation of AG cost overrun after ‘troublesome’ report

BISMARCK — The North Dakota lawyer common’s workplace agreed in 2020 to lease a poorly geared up workplace constructing from an organization owned by a state lawmaker, in line with a report launched by state Auditor Josh Gallion on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

After making costly renovations to the south Bismarck constructing, the state’s high legislation enforcement company beneath the path of then-Lawyer Common Wayne Stenehjem racked up a $1.7 million funds overrun,

in line with the report.

A legislative audit committee on Tuesday referred the matter for additional investigation to present Lawyer Common Drew Wrigley, who mentioned he’ll rent an out of doors company to look into any doable wrongdoing.

Wrigley, who was appointed after Stenehjem died earlier this yr,

made public in June

that the lawyer common’s workplace beneath his predecessor accrued important surprising prices tied to a leased constructing that homes the Bureau of Prison Investigation, the State Lottery and different branches of the company.

Former leaders within the workplace, together with Deputy Lawyer Common Troy Seibel, had hid details about the overrun from legislators and improperly tried to soak up the extra prices into the company’s funds, Wrigley alleged. Seibel, who left the workplace in March, has beforehand denied he withheld data.

Lawmakers directed Gallion to compile a report on the deal after studying of the overrun.

The auditor’s 45-page report discovered that Bismarck GOP Rep. Jason Dockter approached state Director of Facility Administration John Boyle in summer time 2019 about leasing a Bismarck constructing to the state. (The report says Dockter incorrectly said the lawyer common’s workplace approached him. Dockter mentioned representatives from the workplace knowledgeable him of their curiosity find a brand new workplace.)

In spring 2020, Stenehjem’s workplace and Boyle agreed on a 10-year lease for a south Bismarck constructing that Dockter’s firm, Stealth Properties, didn’t but personal. Dockter mentioned his firm wished to have a lease in place so it may safe financial institution loans to purchase the constructing. A number of lawmakers remarked Tuesday that this isn’t typical of the state’s leasing agreements.

Dockter, a nine-year veteran of the Home of Representatives, served because the treasurer of Stenehjem’s reelection marketing campaign in 2018, in line with state data.

The legislator mentioned his firm’s lease with the lawyer common’s workplace was not tied to his private relationship with Stenehjem or his stature as a public official. Dockter famous that he is “a taxpayer first” and he would not have inked the deal if it had been dangerous for the state financially.

“It seems like a battle, however we (legislators) are personal residents,” Dockter mentioned. “The lease is market worth. It is one factor if (the auditor) discovered that (the state) paid $3 extra per sq. foot… However that is not the case.”

Previous to the deal, division administrators throughout the lawyer common’s workplace had raised a number of considerations in regards to the new constructing, which lacked bogs, convention rooms, places of work and file storage. The constructing has 2,600 fewer sq. toes than the company beforehand occupied, per the report.

A number of different firms co-owned by Dockter carried out renovations as a part of the lease, however outfitting the constructing for the company rapidly proved extra pricey than the unique estimates, the report mentioned.

In the long run, the reworking mission value greater than $5.5 million — about $1.7 million greater than Dockter’s corporations would cowl, leaving the state on the hook for the distinction.

Gallion’s report additionally alleged that Dockter’s corporations usually stored poor data of invoices and should have double-billed the state for some bills.

Dockter mentioned he doesn’t deal with day-to-day operations at his firms, so he can not touch upon alleged accounting errors.

The report alleged that one agency co-owned by Dockter, Frontier Contracting, carried out contracting work with out a license. Dockter mentioned a special firm he co-owns, Parkway Property Administration, was licensed to do the work, and the auditor misinterpreted the data offered by the businesses.

Dockter mentioned his firms did nothing improper of their dealings with the state, including that they’ll totally cooperate with any additional investigations.

After Gallion introduced the report Tuesday, a number of lawmakers voiced their frustrations with the state officers who inked the lease.

Rep. Keith Kempenich, R-Bowman, mentioned the ordeal has precipitated him to lose belief within the businesses liable for the ordeal.

Senate Minority Chief Joan Heckaman, D-New Rockford, mentioned the report’s findings are “troublesome on so many ranges.”

Boyle mentioned he signed off on the lease when it was nonetheless deal for the state, including that it was the change orders that drove up the value. Boyle mentioned he is working with Wrigley’s workplace on laws to make sure that “this doesn’t occur once more.”