Prison problems alleged

The appeal raises questions about management of the prison system by Director Bob Bayer; Inspector General Rod Countryman; Miles Long, warden of the Southern Nevada Correctional Center in Jean; and Janice Benzler, associate warden of operations at the Warm Springs Correctional Center in Carson City.

Included are allegations of "stonewalling" by the prison administration with regard to questions about impropriety of top-ranking prison officials. The allegations include associating with an ex-convict and sexual impropriety.

The information surfaced as a result of Mel Vande Brake's appeal of his demotion to correctional officer in 1996.

Findings in an opinion issued June 24 by Hearing Officer David Kladney say that:

-Both Long and Benzler associated with a person they knew to be an ex-convict. Benzler lived with and had a relationship with the ex-convict, Brian Fedoryk, in 1995.

-An investigation turned up evidence of a high-ranking prison employee offering to advance a subordinate's career in exchange for sex. But that and several other findings by the Prison Department investigator were declared off-limits by Countryman, who's in charge of prison investigations.

-Findings of the investigator are not being pursued by Bayer, who took over as director of the department in January 1995.

"Employees in any workplace, public or private, are to be held accountable, but so must management," Kladney said in his decision. "Here, past management has failed miserably. Current management is on that road with the stonewalling of investigations to protect certain employees."

Bayer said Thursday that much of the information contained in Kladney's report was unknown to him, but that he has begun an investigation.

"I'm as concerned as anybody to read that kind of a summary of the situation," he said. "Many of the things I read in that report I was surprised at, and I did not know of them."

Bayer said he is reviewing tapes of the hearing to make certain that the summary as written by Kladney is accurate.

The investigation will be a priority because the findings in the report "question the credibility of a lot of the system," he said.

Vande Brake's appeal stemmed from discipline he received as a result of an investigation into activities at the Nevada Women's Correctional Center.

Vande Brake appealed his 1996 demotion, which was based on charges that he endangered security at the prison in 1995. Kladney rejected Vande Brake's demotion, saying the allegations were unproved.

Kladney also took note of the testimony from the Prisons Department investigator, David Meligan, who said he was told by Countryman that some of his initial findings were off-limits to further investigation.

"The good old girls and boys club is not what the people of Nevada or the Nevada state Legislature had in mind when they created the classified service of the state personnel system," Kladney said.

"Perhaps the worst blow to employee morale is the blind eye past management had to these conditions and refusal of the current management to investigate upper management personnel where probable cause exists for further investigation."

The hearing's summary paints a picture of a prison that was out of control in 1995 until Robin Bates was appointed warden on late 1995 and requested the investigation by the inspector general.

Problems found included a breakdown in command structure and a lack of fiscal controls to determine where money was being spent, according to Kladney's summary.

At Vande Brake's appeal hearing, Bates also testified about sexual harassment among staff members, employees sleeping on duty, nurses under the influence of controlled substances, employees bringing weapons in their trucks and cars to the prison property and inappropriate inmate behavior.

Meligan said he found that a warden had a relationship with a correctional officer and that an upper management prison employee offered to help a subordinate with her career in exchange for sex. The individuals weren't named in Kladney's decision.

As a result of Meligan's investigation, it was recommended that Vande Brake be demoted from sergeant. Other disciplinary actions were taken, including the demotion of another sergeant, a 10-day suspension for a correctional officer found sleeping on duty, several letters of reprimand and the firing of one health care provider. Some employees were sent to an employee assistance program, and several staff resigned in the face of disciplinary action.

No disciplinary action was recommended for Long or Benzler.

Benzler testified at Vande Brake's appeal hearing that she notified her superior that she was involved in a romantic relationship with Fedoryk, but didn' know initially he was a former prison inmate.

Benzler said she was told that the relationship wasn't a problem and that she was not told to break it off.

In addition, Benzler said she, Fedoryk and Long socialized together even after they both were aware he was an ex-convict. In 1994, Fedoryk was given a tour of the women's prison by Long, she said.

Long was later assigned by Bayer as warden of the Southern Nevada Correctional Center, where he is still employed.

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