TOP DRUG COUNSELOR FACES PERJURY CHARGE

Head Of State Board Accused Of Lying About Credentials At
Hearing

For more than 20 years, William Olcott was a leader in setting professional
standards for drug addiction counselors in
Wisconsin.

[SIDEBAR: William Olcott Photo/File William Olcott is accused of lying under
oath about his credentials during a state administrative hearing on
disciplinary action against a colleague. Quotable: The DA has the wrong
impression, but I don't want to get into it.- William Olcott, former
president of the Wisconsin Certification Board]

As president of the Wisconsin Certification Board, Olcott had a hand
in deciding who could enter the profession, what jobs they could
perform and whether they were living up to a code of conduct.

But now it is Olcott's conduct that is being called into question in a
felony criminal case in which he is accused of claiming college
degrees that he does not have.

Olcott, 56, faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of perjury
on allegations of lying under oath about his credentials during a
state administrative hearing on disciplinary action against a
colleague in Green Lake County.

According to the criminal complaint, Olcott claimed to have a master's
degree from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a bachelor's
degree from Indiana University - when he has no degree at all.

Contacted at his home in Appleton, Olcott called the situation a
misunderstanding.

"The DA has the wrong impression, but I don't want to get into it," he
said.

Olcott declined to comment further, and his attorney, Thomas
Wroblewski, did not return calls seeking comment.

The perjury charge last week prompted Olcott to resign his position at
the Wisconsin Certification Board.

For some of the estimated 2,500 drug treatment professionals regulated
by the board, the episode also has shaken their confidence in the
quasi-governmental agency regarded as the ultimate authority on
confronting addiction in Wisconsin.

"I'm very disappointed," said newly certified Fond du Lac drug
counselor Denise Gaudet. "They're accountable only to themselves. I
could see how this type of thing could happen."

Started with Russian trip According to a Green Lake County Sheriff's
Department report, Olcott told investigators that he doctored his
resume two years ago because he planned to attend a professional
conference in Russia and was warned that he would lack credibility at
the international gathering without a college degree.

Becoming a drug treatment counselor in Wisconsin does not require a
college degree, although the field has evolved over the years to a
point where more than half of today's working professionals do have a
degree.

Olcott told investigators that he mistakenly submitted the altered
resume for the Green Lake County hearing and did not realize his error
until being questioned under oath about his credentials.

"He only had an instant to make a decision on what to do," the
sheriff's report states, "and because of embarrassment and worry about
ruining his credibility, he decided to perjure himself."

Olcott is a drug addiction counselor and a faculty member at Fox
Valley Technical College, where he serves as chairman of the addiction
studies department. College officials said his employment would be
reviewed if he is convicted in the perjury case.

In the Green Lake County administrative hearing in January, Olcott
testified as an expert witness before an administrative law judge
being asked to overturn the firing of a county drug counselor. The
Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission has not yet issued a ruling
in the case.

Two county officials involved in the case later approached the Green
Lake County district attorney's office with questions about whether
Olcott had exaggerated his qualifications under oath.

DA checked credentials District Attorney James Camp said he decided to
file the perjury charge after checking Olcott's credentials at both
UW-Green Bay and Indiana University.

"He didn't have either of those degrees," Camp said. "I can prove that
he perjured himself."

Olcott was booked on the felony charge June 9 by the Green Lake County
Sheriff's Department and was released on his own recognizance. He is
due back in court Aug. 4 for a preliminary hearing.

If convicted, he faces a maximum prison term of 10 years and a fine of
up to $10,000.

The case has stunned colleagues who describe Olcott as a respected
pioneer in the field of alcohol and other drug addiction (AODA)
treatment in Wisconsin.

"It's a very shocking thing," said Racine drug counselor and
psychotherapist Lester Higgenbottom.

"He's part of that old guard," said Larry Kane, president of Wisconsin
Community Mental Health Counseling Centers Inc. "He helped to create
and give legitimacy to the whole AODA community."

Olcott a drug board founder

In the mid-1970s, Olcott was among the founders of the Wisconsin
Certification Board, which certifies and regulates drug treatment
counselors, clinical supervisors and prevention professionals. The
board also has accredited Marquette University, Alverno College and
other schools offering drug treatment curricula.

Although a private organization, the certification board was created
by the state in 1976 and gets $121,000 annually from the state
Department of Health and Family Services.

In addition to reviewing applications for certification, the volunteer
27-person board hears complaints against professionals who violate the
group's code of conduct. Olcott had been a board member for more than
20 years and was serving a two-year stint as president when he
resigned on Saturday.

Jeff Pearcy, executive director of the Wauwatosa-based organization,
said the perjury allegation against Olcott has left associates shocked.

An authority with no degree?

Pearcy said he called UW-Green Bay and Indiana University and was told
that Olcott has no college degree from either school. Although no
degree is required to serve on the certification board, Pearcy said he
assumed that Olcott could not achieve so much professional success
without a degree.

"He's been identified as an authority," Pearcy said. "There's a
certain assumption that a lot of people had made."

One final irony: If convicted of perjury, Olcott could be hauled
before the regulatory board that he helped to create and stripped of
his professional certification.

"If he's guilty of this," Pearcy said, "we're as appalled as anyone
else."