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Auditor Criticizes Juvenile Justice Spending
The Illinois auditor general says he's willing to cut some slack for a relatively new state agency, but says what's in a new audit should never happen again.

The audit of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, which runs the juvenile prisons -- called youth centers -- cites 25 major problems at the agency, one of which is that the agency wouldn't cooperate with the process.

Auditor General Bill Holland says the agency failed to use almost $3 million for new front-line staff. The money was approved by state lawmakers over two years. Agency spokeswoman Januari Smith says the agency wanted to hire folks, but had to spend two years writing a new job classification. She also blames former Gov. Rod Blagojevich for blocking some hiring for budgetary reasons.

Other problems cited were:

* Poor record-keeping of the inmates' corrections bank accounts
* No standard price for commissary food and snacks
* A 25 percent markup on items, which Holland says is not allowed by law
* Paying on contracts that were not signed.

(Illinois Radio Network)
09 09 09 by Newsroom
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