Inspector general pondering possible subpoena powers

Posted 12:11PM on Saturday 8th February 2003 ( 22 years ago )

ATLANTA - The watchdog appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue to ferret out fraud, waste and corruption in government is considering whether to seek subpoena powers to do his job. The idea plays well with some lawmakers. Others fear it could be put to sinister political ends. ``On its face, it sounds fine,'' said Rep. DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, the speaker pro tem of the House. ``But what is the real reason? Do you cause political witch hunts with something like this? Do you allege someone's guilty and then they have to prove they're not?'' Senate Republican Leader Tom Price of Roswell countered that giving the watchdog significant power is the only way to go ``if we are to honestly address the significant ethical problems that have been brought to the fore over the past number of years.'' The watchdog is Jim Sehorn, a retired Air Force general who was shot down over North Vietnam and spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. Perdue tapped him to be the state's first inspector general, a post the governor created by executive order after spending much of his campaign condemning government lapses. The executive order empowers Sehorn to investigate the operation and management of state agencies within the executive branch of government and report his findings to the governor. The order directs every state agency to cooperate with the inspector general and to make its premises, equipment, books, records, papers and personnel readily available to him. Sehorn said he's not sure yet if that's sufficient. ``If we continue under the executive order to have access to records and buildings unhampered access perhaps we won't need to go into the request for specific subpoena power,'' he said. ``That's going to be an ongoing process, to decide how effective the executive order will be.'' Like the office, itself, that question remains a work in progress, said Sehorn, who is still organizing a staff and getting an Internet site prepared for citizens to report charges of abuse, fraud or corruption. Even without those trappings, he's already received more than 20 complaints. ``Some of these are credible. I've had a couple clearly not. I had somebody write a letter about somebody not wearing seat belts,'' he said. Since the day his appointment was announced, Sehorn has stressed that he sees the office as a way of helping state agencies improve their operations more an efficiency adviser than a policeman. And he says his authority stops when he finds anything illegal. Then it must be turned over to law enforcement. But the idea of subpoena powers has some lawmakers worrying about where the office will go. That's particularly true of Democrats, who wonder if the coming years will see Republicans in the governor's mansion for the first time in 130 years investigating them with a vengeance. ``The question is, do you set up a person who has the right to simply go out and dig around just to see if he can find something out about someone to cause an investigation,'' said Porter. ``If that's the case, then subpoena powers would be something that could be overstepped very easily and for a lot of wrong reasons.'' Price, the Senate GOP leader, said he is aware of those concerns ``and it may be that some sunset can be offered to allow the governor and Legislature to revisit the issue at some point.'' But giving strong powers to the inspector general is imperative. Georgia lawmakers once gave subpoena powers to a government watchdog committee called the Senate Committee on Economy, Reorganization and Efficiency in Government. It never used the powers, but merely possessing them gave the committee the power to intimidate government officials. Zell Miller stripped the power from the panel when he was Lieutenant Governor. Bill Bozarth of the Georgia chapter of Common Cause said he's willing to give the new inspector general a chance. ``He's a recently appointed person with a great deal of personal integrity. Perdue brought somebody in that I think will be respected by everyone. My position is, let's hope for the best on this one,'' Bozarth said. But Gerry Weber, legal director of the Atlanta chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the power of subpoena should be given to as few people as possible. ``It's an awesome power to enter a person's home, go through their private things, enter their private communications,'' he said. And it's probably not necessary, he said. ``He would certainly have no trouble obtaining the information through any of the other government agencies which currently have subpoena powers.''

http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/2/183394