ST. LANDRY POLICE JURY URGED TO EXPAND WORKER DRUG TESTING

OPELOUSAS -- The St. Landry Parish Police Jury Personnel Committee
recommended Tuesday expanding the number of employees who undergo monthly
random drug testing.

Increasing the workers tested every month from three to five will boost the
probability that more employees will eventually get tested, committee
Chairman Wayne Ardoin said.

The recommendation could become a Police Jury policy when jurors convene
Monday for a regular monthly meeting.

Ardoin said some jurors have complained that some employees are being
tested more than others, while some have never been tested since the Police
Jury started the program in 1998.

Parish manager Ralph Nezat said he's in favor of spending the extra money
at $35 per test.

"I would like to get a broader base. I got tested three times in a row,"
Nezat said.

Some committee members and other jurors attending Tuesday's series of
committee meetings questioned why all of the Police Jury's 27 employees
aren't tested.

"If you test everyone, it's not random testing. That's blanket testing,"
said Paul Macri, general manager of Drug Testing Consortium, a Eunice-based
company that performs the monthly tests.

Macri said although the computer-generated selection process that
determines which employees are tested sometimes picks the same names, it's
still the most-efficient way to prevent drug usage.

"The fact that no one really knows how many times they are going to get
tested, may cause some to quit using drugs, because they will be afraid of
getting caught," Macri said.

Random testing is performed only to deter drug usage in the workplace, not
catch drug users, Macri said.

Macri said he will comply with a request by Juror Pat Miller to provide the
Police Jury with the number of workers who have tested positive for drugs
since random testing began.

Treasurer Karen Frank estimated that 10 employees have already tested
positive. Macri said employees testing positive are notified first, usually
by a medical consultant, before the results are released to the Police
Jury. He said if some workers are already on the job at the time the
monthly drug tests begin and cannot report, they can be tested later.

Frank said she receives the Social Security numbers of those who are
scheduled for tests and then gives the workers' names to their supervisors.

Employees who are on sick leave or in the hospital are automatically exempt
from testing, Macri said.

Employees who are collecting workers' compensation benefits are also
eligible for drug testing.

In another matter, finance committee members reviewed auditors' suggestions
for improving internal control and financial compliance.

An internal audit for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31 found problems with
the Police Jury's issuance of purchase orders, identification of fixed
assets, bidding process, financial transactions with immediate family
members and use of public property.

In their examination, auditors determined that in some cases, dates on
purchase orders did not correspond with those on vendors' invoices.

There were also two separate instances when purchase orders were issued
after the dates appearing on the invoices, the auditors said.

Frank said vendors have been told not to put dates on invoices until they
receive a purchase order.

Miller said employees have been warned not to purchase from suppliers until
they have obtained purchase orders.

Frank said the Police Jury's identification of fixed assets has been
hampered by a computer problem that deleted all inventory lists.

The auditors also complained that the Police Jury may have paid 75 cents
per ton more than the bid price quoted for cold mix used for road repairs
in October.

Some jurors also apparently did business with members of their immediate
families, the audit showed.

The audit report did not specify which jurors and family members transacted
business.

Frank said the auditors also wanted to remind jurors that they cannot hold
personal conversations on cellular telephones bought with public funds.