Draper asks Legislative Auditor to help Simmesport

Imagine the chaos that would occur if all the records and information an office used every day suddenly disappeared from the office computers.

The Town of Simmesport doesn’t have to imagine it -- they are going through it.

For as-yet-undetermined reasons, one or more “persons unknown” may have wiped files from two computers in Town Hall and another in the Police Department, Mayor Leslie Draper III said.

In addition, many hard copy records of the information in those files have also gone missing, as have various pieces of equipment in the Police Department and other town departments.

Draper said when the new administration came into office on Jan. 1, it was immediately faced with significant problems. He called the Legislative Auditor’s Office for assistance.

Brad Cryer, director of the Local Government division, said they took three computers back to Baton Rouge to try to find the missing records.

NOT AN INVESTIGATION

Cryer said his office “is the advisory branch. We are here to try to solve problems.” He said the Legislative Auditor “is not investigating the town at this time. If we come across something that merits it, we will refer the matter to our investigative branch.”

He said the computers have been returned to the town, but the efforts to recover missing records is still ongoing. He said town employees are trying to go through the town’s computer network to track down missing records.

Cryer said Legislative Auditor staff and town personnel will meet in the near future to compare notes and determine what records are still missing. Staff will also work with town employees on “best practices” tips for running the office and operating the computers.

Draper said he hopes computer experts are able to recover at least some of the erased information.

The town has one working computer in the office, the mayor said. However, the loss of records of occupational permits, contracts, ordinances and payment of fines has caused headaches for town personnel and aggravation for residents.

“People had receipts of their payments that did not match the records that we have remaining,” Draper said.

“It is unusual that the technology-based records and the hard copy records went missing at the same time,” he continued. “In math, 1+1 always equals 2. That’s all I can say about that.”

HUMAN-CAUSED

Draper said he believes the problem is human-caused and intentional.

“It was no act of nature that caused this,” the mayor said.

Cryer could not confirm that suspicion. He said his analysts have not reported any indication of tampering or deliberate destruction of records, but “our main focus is to find the records the Town of Simmesport needs so they can keep operating.”

Draper said there are also indications of “unathorized purchases, unpaid bills and contracts dishonored” prior to January 2017.

“People are irritated and they have a right to be,” Draper said. “They paid their fines and there is no record of their payment. We get these on a daily basis.”

A Simmesport resident who asked to remain anonymous said he knows of one case where a $299 fine was paid but the record book showed only $90 had been received. Fortunately, that person kept good records of her expenditures and could prove she had paid the full $299.

He said he is not so fortunate because he paid part of his fine up front and was put on a three-month payment plan late last year. Now the town has no record of his payments or that he was ever on a payment plan.

Draper said the State Police may be called in to investigate.

“There is a possibility that criminal charges will be filed after the investigations are finished,” he said. “There is too much to ignore and let go by. It would be unfair to the citizens.”