Time sheet charges lead to CCSN firing

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

Commnity College of Southern Nevada President Richard Carpenter fired a part-time employee and suspended the payroll duties of the man's supervisor Monday after learning that both had been charged with felonies for allegedly falsifying time sheets.

Authorities allege that Craig Hopkins, a staff employee at A.D. Guy Education Center in North Las Vegas, reported hours he did not work. He was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses in North Las Vegas Justice Court on August 18, Conrad Hafen, senior deputy attorney general, said.

The site supervisor, Autumn Keyes, was charged in September with being a principal to the crime of obtaining money under false pretenses for aiding Hopkins in the alleged theft, Hafen said.

If convicted, each faces one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, Hafen said.

Authorities allege that Hopkins was recording hours at the college for hours he was working at another job, and that Keyes knew he wasn't working those hours but still authorized the payment, Hafen said.

Hafen said Hopkins obtained more than $8,000 between January 2001 and August 2002 for hours he did not work. The public integrity unit of the attorney general's office began investigating the case after receiving anonymous tips, Hafen said.

Hopkins' preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 8 in North Las Vegas Justice Court, Hafen said. Keyes' hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10.

The community college learned of the charges and the ongoing payroll investigation from the state attorney general's office on Friday, college officials said. Carpenter also said there are suspicions that more employees falsified time sheets.

"We're taking this very seriously. This is my priority right now," Carpenter said. "In an institution as big as CCSN you can't promise that nothing will ever go wrong ... but when it does go wrong you should work quickly to put policies in place so that it does not continue."

CCSN policy allows part-time employees to be fired with only two weeks notice, general counsel Bart Patterson said, but administrators like Keyes who have worked for the institution for decades have tenure and the college has to go through a special hearing process to discipline those employees.

Carpenter also said that both employees are innocent until proven guilty, and he does not have enough evidence from the attorney general's office to proceed with termination proceedings against Keyes. He said he fired Hopkins because the college no longer needed his services. Keyes, the site administrator for both the A.D. Guy Center on N Street near Washington Avenue and for the Western High School High Tech Center, declined to comment on the allegations until she was able to confer with her attorney. Hopkins could not be reached for comment this morning.

Keyes, an employee of the college since 1973 and sister of the late District Judge Addeliar Guy III, said Hopkins recruited people from the community surrounding the center to come in and use the center's free computer services.