Lawsuit Seeks Information About Deposits of Public Money Into Prosecutor Maintained Bank Account

Last Friday, a petition to compel disclosure of public records was filed against Canyon County Prosecutor John Bujak, the Canyon County Prosecutor's Office and Canyon County. The lawsuit seeks records regarding a bank account maintained by Mr. Bujak. The petition alleges that money owed to Canyon County is being placed into an account controlled by Mr. Bujak. The petition also alleges that only about 40% of the money received by Mr. Bujak has been transferred from that account to the Canyon County General Fund.

Here's the background. In 2009, the Canyon County Prosecutor's office contracted with the City of Nampa for prosecutorial services for $598,357.88 per year. The contract was later amended to change the recipient of Nampa's payments from the Canyon County Auditor to Mr. Bujak. The petition alleges the money went directly to Mr. Bujak's account. Canyon County was aware of this arrangement and passed a resolution stating that Mr. Bujak "realize no financial advantage" from the contract. However, according to the petition, Mr. Bujak received payments from Nampa totalling $344,509.04, which were put into the bank account, but has reimbursed the county $135,637.14.

The petitioner, Bob Henry, wants to know what's happened to the money and has filed a series of public records requests. Mr. Henry is the owner of Henry Insurance in Nampa and a former member of the Nampa School District Board. He is also an unsuccessful candidate for a seat on the Nampa City Council.

One of the responses to Mr. Henry's requests explained that Mr. Bujak pays the operating costs and "Prosecutor's Office salary adjustments" out of the funds and then "essentially donates" the rest to the County General Fund. (It appears that the deputy prosecutors get a salary bump funded by the Nampa contract too.) Mr. Henry then asked for documentation relating to the bank account to determine for himself how the $208,871.90 difference between receipts from Nampa and donations to the General Fund had been handled. According to the petition, Mr. Bujak told Mr. Henry in a telephone conversation that the bank account was not subject to a public records request. Mr. Henry apparently disagrees.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if every penny of the $208,871.90 has been properly spent. I also wouldn't be surprised if the taxpayers of Nampa are saving money over their previous contract with a private law firm. It does surprise me that an elected public official would try to keep that information secret. Besides, Nixon and Watergate should have taught us that a coverup can do more damage than what's being covered-up.