Fired jail official may be linked to missing money

Dan Kulin

Friday, Sept. 19, 2003 | 9:21 a.m.

The former North Las Vegas jail supervisor who oversaw inmate accounts found to be missing at least $156,000 was fired in July for violating financial record-keeping policies and procedures, according to city records released Thursday.

However, city officials refused to say whether former city Detention Records Manager Diana Thompson's firing was in connection with the missing funds.

Acting City Manager Gregory Rose said he could not comment on Thompson's firing.

"I can't comment on the investigation because it could compromise things," Rose said.

Police are investigating the disappearance of at least $156,000 taken from accounts set up for inmates who had money confiscated from them when they were arrested or had money sent to them while they were incarcerated.

While Rose would not talk about specific employees by name, he said "the individual that we have concerns about is no longer working for the city."

As of Thursday, Rose said only one former city employee was thought to be connected to the missing money. He said the police are looking into whether others may have been involved.

Rose said he will be able to release more information after the police finishes their investigation in 30 to 45 days.

The first clue that something might have been amiss at the jail came from a routine audit of the city's finances for the 2001-02 fiscal year, which Rose said was completed around November 2002.

The audit showed $156,000 missing from inmates' accounts. Rose said that total could have been the accumulation of several years of losses at the jail. Also, Rose said, because the audit reviewed finances through the end of the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2002, more money could be missing.

After receiving the information from the audit, the city implemented some new bookkeeping procedures, but the "inconsistencies continued to occur so we turned it over to the police," Rose said.

The detention records manager was responsible for those accounts, Rose said.

Thompson went to work for the city in March 1992 as a senior inmate records specialist. She was promoted to manager of the detention records division in October 1999, according to city records.

Thompson was being paid $69,411 a year when she was placed on administrative leave on June 26.

Then on July 24, Thompson was "terminated for violating North Las Vegas Detention Center policies and procedures with respect to standards of conduct and financial record-keeping," according to city records.

Rose would not elaborate on the cause of the firing.

Thompson could not be reached for comment.