BELLE CHASSE, La. (AP) - The former Plaquemines Parish public defender is coming under scrutiny after the state board of public defenders raised questions about spending at his office.
WDSU-TV reports that the Louisiana Public Defender Board recently decided not to renew the contract of Peter Barbee, the Plaquemines chief public defender, after the board questioned if Barbee improperly gave himself a $30,000 pay raise. Barbee was earning $95,000 a year and gave himself the pay raise without board approval, according to the TV station.
Barbee said he did nothing wrong. "Never had a complaint, never had a problem and never had an issue since I been here," Barbee said.
The state board has asked the state legislative auditor's office to investigate.
The television station also reports that a recent audit found that the office administrator Sadie Guey got more than $50,000 in overtime pay over the last two years. According to office records, Guey made more than $32,000 in overtime in 2010 and collected another $19,000 in 2011. The auditor questioned whether Guey was eligible to collect overtime.
Guey told WDSU that she did nothing wrong and that she was entitled to overtime.
"We believe in transparency and money is tight right now and we believe in paying people fairly - and if Plaquemines Parish has money left over for the public defenders' office it should go to the office, not the individual," said Frank Neuner, the state board chairman.
The state named Richard Tompson as the interim public defender for Plaquemines.