Tag: Tennessee Comptroller’s Office

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Report: U of M Has Highest Title IX Complaints in State

Credit: University of Memphis via Facebook

The University of Memphis has the most Title IX complaints out of all state agencies in the state — almost three times the amount of other entities reporting.

The purpose of Title IX is to ban discrimination on the basis of sex for “any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” This includes admission consideration, employment, as well as “treatment of students” and “access to programs and courses,” among other things. 

In 2023 the University of Memphis reported 125 Title IX complaints to the agency, according to a report from the Tennessee State Comptroller’s office. Other schools included in the report were  Austin Peay State University (21 incidents), East Tennessee State University (19 incidents), Tennessee State University (5 incidents), and the University of Tennessee (24).

While U of M reported the most complaints compared to other agencies, the 2023 numbers show a 3.2 percent decrease from the previous year (129.) This is the third year in a row that the university reported the most incidents.

The report does not say why the university has so many reports, or the nature of them. University officials refused to respond to questions about Title IX complaints, including the most basic descriptions of the types of incidents that cause complaints. They also would not say whether complaints were up because of increased knowledge of campus resources.

“The University of Memphis is committed to providing an environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex and provides many resources to students, faculty, and staff to address concerns relating to discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes sexual misconduct,” the university said in a statement.

When asked for public records pertaining to the Title IX complaints, the comptroller’s office recommended the university be reached for “any records related to the cumulative report.”

Students, staff, and faculty can file complaints through the university’s Office for Institutional Equity.

“It should be noted that a complainant has the right to the complaint being handled as confidentially as reasonably possible,” said the university. 

Morgan Linsy is a senior at the University of Memphis, and is the executive director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Coalition (SAPAC). This organization partners with the Title IX office for events and training such as their Healthy Relationships Fair and “Walk A Mile In Her Shoes” men’s march.

Linsy said her organization is advocating for more transparency regarding Title IX so they can tailor programming and support to best meet the needs of students. She understands the university has to protect victims as she also serves as a mandatory reporter for the university.

“They come to us knowing that what happens is going to stay with us and I think sometimes seeing the numbers can be scary for some people,” Linsy said. “It’s important for us to know what those numbers are, but I think we also have to remember that there still is a certain level of privacy that they’re owed, because at the end of the day they don’t have to report; however, we want them to so we can help bring awareness and see how we can increase resources for students on campus.”

Linsy thinks that transparency in numbers and reporting is important campus-wide for current and prospective students as well.

“If we know what’s happening on campus, we’re more inclined to keep each other aware, keep each other accountable, and make sure we work together to help prevent it all together,” Linsy said.

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Small Town Grift: Officials Stole from Jail Inmates, Animal Services

CredIt: Tennessee State Comptroller's office

Two West Tennessee officials were recently indicted after a state agency found they stole thousands of dollars from an animal shelter in one instance and from jail inmates in another. 

The Tennessee State Comptroller, Jason Mumpower, recently announced indictments in the cases after investigators from his office discovered the fraudulent schemes.  

In one, Christopher Sikes, the former director of Hardin County Animal Services, was found to have stolen $12,117. The funds were stolen from shelter collections while Sikes led the organization from January 2019 until he was fired in January 2023.   

Sikes used two different methods to carry out the misappropriations of the funds.

For one, he improperly voided receipts totaling $8,459 in the shelter’s accounting software. Voided receipts could occur when a refund is issued. However, shelter services are nonrefundable, and numerous customers who had their receipts voided confirmed that no refunds were ever received. Investigators verified that these collections were neither put back on the books nor deposited.

Sikes also failed to deposit at least $3,658 in fees collected at the shelter. During the time span of the invesitgation, shelter collections totaled $24,618. But Sikes only deposited $20,960 in collections.

Investigators found that Sikes was the only shelter employee authorized to void receipts, access collections from the safe, prepare shelter collections for deposit, and deliver deposits to the trustee.

Earlier this month, the Hardin County Grand Jury indicted Sikes for one count of theft of property over $10,000, one count of forgery over $10,000, one count of computer crimes over $2,500, one count of destruction of and tampering with governmental records, and one count of official misconduct.

“Hardin County officials should ensure that one person is not given exclusive control over key financial processes,” Mumpower said in a statement. “Separating financial duties reduces the risk that errors or misappropriations will go undetected.”

Earlier this month, the Lake County Grand Jury indicted Neina Ceaser, the administrator of that county’s jail. 

Investigators found that Ceaser stole at least $35,158 of inmate commissary funds and cash deposits from January 2018 through July 2023. Lake County jail inmates use their commissary funds to purchase items such as snacks and toiletries. Ceaser was responsible for overseeing the inmate commissary accounts, which includes making cash deposits.

The investigation began after Lake County officials discovered the sheriff’s department commissary account was out of balance and inmates could not pay for commissary products.

The investigation revealed that Ceaser failed to deposit cash that was collected from two kiosk machines located at the sheriff’s department. The kiosks are used to collect money for placement in an inmate’s commissary account. If an inmate has any cash or coins on their person when they are booked, the funds are also placed in their commissary account, using the kiosk.

Investigators compared the cash collections in the kiosks to the department’s cash deposits and discovered that Ceaser failed to deposit $35,158.88 of inmate funds into the inmates’ commissary bank account. Ceaser concealed her misappropriation by falsifying general ledger journal entries and deposit slips.

For this, Ceasar was indicted by a grand jury for one count of theft of property over $10,000, one count of destruction of and tampering with governmental records, and one count of official misconduct.

“Sheriff’s department officials must provide adequate oversight and implement effective internal controls over cash collected in the kiosks,”Mumpower said. “One person should not be responsible for collecting the cash, counting it, depositing it, and posting the journal entries. I’m pleased to note the department is already taking steps to address this issue.”

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Deal Appears to be Nearing on City Tax Rate in $3.30-to-$3.40 Range

CREDIT: JB

Council Lee Harris vote could be key next Tuesday.

  • JB
  • Council Lee Harris’ vote could be key next Tuesday.

After two weeks of dealing with an implied threat of intervention from state Comptroller Justin Wilson that later became explicit, City of Memphis officials appear to have come out from under the gun, though a final resolution of the city’s budget for fiscal 2013-14 is yet to be achieved.

But here’s a What-If for you: Given that Wilson, in an interview this week with the Flyer, made a point of citing state law as a basis for his possible intervention in the city’s budget travails, what would happen if the Council, whose members face reelection bids in a couple of years, should allow the Comptroller to do just that, assuming all the onus for a tax increase?

One Council member, asked about that prospect, said, “There have been a lot of jokes about that, but it’s not going to happen.” Instead, he said, it is likely that the Council will reach agreement, when it reconvenes budget discussions on Tuesday, on a tax rate somewhere between $3.30 and $3.40 — in the neighborhood of Mayor A C Wharton’s originally proposed tax rate of $3.36 and up from the present rate of $3.11.

The final tax-rate figure is likely to be based on some restoration of the 2011 employee pay cuts that were temporarily excised again on Tuesday of this week. It will also allow for necessary adjustments in the city’s health insurance programs.

Meanwhile, the Comptroller’s office seems to be brandishing both a carrot and stick in its dealings with Memphis. On Monday, apropos the City Council’s then seemingly stymied budget negotiations, Wilson, citing Section 9-21-403 from the annotated Tennessee code, told the Flyer, “…[T]here’s absolutely no question that I’ve got to approve the budget. If the budget doesn’t balance, I can bring it into balance. There’s no question I can raise taxes…. It’s the last thing in the world I want to do….But just look at that statute. The authority is powerful!”

But on Tuesday, as the Council conducted a come-to-Jesus budget session that gave tentative approval to some $30 million in new cuts, including potential layoffs and abandonment (temporarily at least) of previous plans to restore 2011 reductions in employees’ salaries, the Council and Mayor A C Wharton received a letter from Sandra Thompson, the Comptroller’s director of state and local finance stating that “the City appears to have complied with the Comptroller’s directives.”

Perhaps the operative metaphor should be one of good cop/bad cop.

Wilson’s explicit threat of Monday was in the wake of two letters addressed to city officials. One was to Wharton advising against a debt refinancing plan by Wharton, reminiscent of one employed by the mayor in 2009-10, that Wilson referred to as “scoop and toss” in that it would load too much debt repayment into future years. Another letter, addressed to Council chairman Edmond Ford Jr at Ford’s request, advised that, if the City could not successfully conclude a workable budget within acceptable financial guidelines, “someone else may end up doing this.”

Even as he made Monday’s more explicit reference to potential state action, however, Wilson was at pains to suggest that he thought the Council was moving in the right direction.

Even should the employee salaries be amended upward again next Tuesday, when Councilman Lee Harris, on vacation this week, returns, a tax rate in the range of $3.30 to $3.40 would seem to accommodate the expense and balance the budget, easing the Comptroller’s concerns. (The voters’ concerns, of course, are a different matter.)

Meanwhile, Shelby County’s fiscal plans, apparently on course after the County Commission earlier this month approved County Mayor’s budget and a tax rate of $4.38, increased by 32 cents, hit a snag on the tax rate’s required second reading this week.

With one member, Democrat Melvin Burgess, absent, the tax rate failed to get the required seven votes on the 13-member body. Another Democratic member thought previously to favor the new tax rate, Commissioner Sidney Chism, voted no on second reading. Both Burgess and Chism are targets of an ethics complaint by Commissioner Terry Roland, a Millington Republican who has asked the state Attorney General for an opinion on the two Democrats’ eligibility to vote on the tax rate.

Roland hinges his complaint on the facts that Chism operates a day care center that receives county “wraparound” funds and that Burgess is an employee of the new Unified School System that is directly funded by county government. On the tax rate’s first reading, Burgess declared he would not submit to “bullying” and voted for both the tax rate and Luttrell’s budget, which required only one round of approval for passage. Burgess is still expected to vote for the $4.38 tax rate on July 8, when the Commission has a final vote.