Lawmakers complain about new computers going unused

Tuesday, Dec. 14, 1999 | 9:39 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Computers purchased by the state are sitting unused in boxes for months, possibly years, state legislators complained Monday.

Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said computers were bought for the state Division of Parole and Probation office on Bonanza Road in Las Vegas but couldn't be installed because there was not enough power in the building.

"The building short circuited. It's a terrible rundown system on Bonanza.

"The officers are frustrated," she told fellow members of the Legislative Commission.

Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, said he was told by a parole officer that computers have been in boxes for up to two years in Elko. The staff must get in line to use the one computer available.

Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, said the same thing happened at the State Industrial Insurance System (now called Employers Insurance of Nevada) with the computers sitting in the hallways.

"This is not acceptable," said O'Connell, chairwoman of the Legislative Commission. "There are millions of dollars spent by the state. I would like a report on the money spent by each agency to purchase the computers and if they are activated."

O'Connell directed the staff to notify state officials to appear at the next meeting to explain why some of the computers have sat idle.

Carlos Concha, administrator of the parole department , disputed that computers have not been used for two years. He conceded there was a problem with the power supply at the Bonanza office in Las Vegas.

He said the computers, received in September, were installed last week at the downtown office in Las Vegas where the power supply is adequate.

Part of the problem, Concha said, is that the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, which his agency is under, has a limited number of technicians to install and maintain the computers.

In addition to the power supply problems, the air conditioning has been poor in the Bonanza office, although last May new units were installed. But there was not enough power and the air conditioners were not turned on until November when the electric system was repaired.

There is a question whether the additional computers slated for the Bonanza will be able to be used because of the questionable power system, Concha said.

He said the computers in Elko were shipped in September and were installed in November.

The issue arose during discussion of the legislative audit of the Parole and Probation Division, which was released in October.

Buckley said she is concerned about the division's efforts to collect restitution for victims from their assailants. She said there's an 86-year-old woman who is owed $1,000 by a man on parole. But the man has been discharged from parole, and the money is still owed.

In Reno, District Judge Brent Adams was unhappy about the division's handling of a case in which a woman was ordered in 1997 to repay $29,553 in restitution to the company she embezzled from. Two years later she has repaid only $500.

Legislative Auditor Gary Crews told the commission that there's been a "philosophical difference" in the Parole and Probation Division. The officers, he said, don't feel they are revenue collection agents.

"There has been a lack of process to collect restitution," he said.

The officers also haven't been diligent in collecting the $30 a month fee imposed on those on parole or probation. That may be more than $1 million that hasn't been collected.

But Concha, who is retiring at the end of the month after 25 years, said he has installed a new system to make sure the officers get this money.

Rhoads said Concha "is a very capable administrator, but he's gone." Concha has been in the top job only about two years.

The committee also was unhappy that state agencies which have been audited don't correct their faults.

Crews said only 18 of the 81 recommendations made to various agencies in recent audits have been implemented. That equates to a 25 percent rate, he said and compares with 60 percent in 1997-98.

Crews said there have been threats to withhold money from these agencies that don't comply but they are never carried out.

The commission will also discuss this in January.