DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Department of Corrections has acknowledged it didn’t tell the board that oversees the agency about two drunken driving convictions on the record of the man it recommended to serve as warden for the state’s prison in Fort Dodge.
Top officials with the department were aware Robert A. Johnson had been arrested for drunken driving in 1991 and 2008, but didn’t see a need to tell the Board of Corrections because the incidents were not recent, Assistant Director Fred Scaletta told the Des Moines Register (https://dmreg.co/1rlnMYy ) for a story published Monday.
“It just really wasn’t relevant, because it would have no bearing on whether he would qualify or not,” Scaletta said.
Department of Corrections Director Jerry Bartruff recommended Johnson and the board voted to hire him on May 6.
Board member John Chalstrom, a school administrator from Sioux City, said he defers to the department’s management to investigate employee backgrounds.
“Their processes are sound,” he said. “If they feel that an individual has the appropriate qualifications and expertise, then they will have my full support.”
Critics said the board should have been told about the drunken driving record.
“The board has responsibility for the staff and for the policies of the Department of Corrections,” said Jean Basinger, a leader of Citizens United for the Reform of Errants, a prison reform group. “If they just trust the staff to make the decisions, then there is no point in having a Board of Corrections.”
Johnson, 53, was hired as a correctional officer in 1989 for the state prison in Rockwell City. After several promotions, he spent the last 13 years as deputy prison superintendent.
He acknowledged the arrests in Carroll County and said he served some jail time and fulfilled all court requirements.
“I didn’t make very good decisions at that time, and I learned from it,” Johnson told the Des Moines Register. “I promised my family and myself and my employer that I was going to change, and I changed from that day forward.”
The drunken driving arrests do not appear in online court records.
Scaletta declined to discuss Johnson’s hiring or details of his arrests. He said both cases were deferred judgments. That means once a defendant completes probation and pays penalties ordered by the court the case is discharged without entry of judgment.
The Carroll County attorney’s office said county court records prior to 1993 are not online. The 2008 case, according to court documents, which also don’t appear online, show the judge allowed another deferred judgment. Johnson’s license was revoked and he was required to remain free of any trouble for a year. He had to get a substance abuse evaluation, take a drinking driver’s education class and pay $1,250 in fines.
Johnson’s voicemail at the prison indicated he was on vacation this week and didn’t respond to a message.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.