CASPER — The criminal investigation of Manderson town officials stemming from a faulty 2022 audit report is closed and no one is being prosecuted, authorities say.
The Wyoming Department of Audit made the announcement Tuesday during a Casper meeting of the legislative Management Audit Committee.
That was about five months after the department told town leaders in a May 28 notice that it was referring the results of an audit of 2021-22 systems and financials to a statewide law enforcement agency, the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
The call for investigation was “due to the number of red flags and the possibility of the existence of fraud,” says a narrative attached to the department’s May 28 letter to the current town mayor.
DCI Director Ronnie Jones confirmed Tuesday in an email that the investigation is closed.
“At the conclusion of (DCI’s) investigation the case was turned over to the Big Horn County Attorney's Office for consideration of charges and a charging decision,” wrote Jones. “The prosecutor cited insufficient evidence to prove a crime had been committed and declined to file charges in the case.”
Big Horn County Attorney Marcia Bean did not return a phone message seeking comment.
Manderson is a town of 88 people in northern Wyoming.
The Audit
The Department of Audit’s narrative casts the town’s books as wholly inaccurate.
Cash revenues, expenditures, courts, utilities, and loan information all were incorrectly reported for fiscal year 2022; and the town didn’t maintain its supporting documentation as required by law, the attached narrative says.
“Large financial discrepancies were unable to be traced to their origin by the audit team due to the lack of documentation and institutional knowledge,” the narrative says, adding that there are significant weaknesses in internal controls that “permeated through the town” and little to no oversight from the town’s governing body.
“The overall tone at the top of the organization showed a lack of accountability which resulted in accounting errors and left the Town highly vulnerable to fraud,” it says.
On the census, the town’s cash was underreported by $276,695; its revenues by $428,925 and its expenditures by $313,830, says the narrative.
But Why?
The source of the town’s many failures is disputed.
“I hate to keep saying ‘The last administration,’ but that’s where this comes from,” Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Tim Patrick told the legislative committee on Tuesday. He and his brother, Mayor Rod Patrick, weren’t in office in 2022.
“(There are) going to be a lot of questions for us we’re not going to be able to answer,” Tim Patrick said, adding that he and the mayor “jumped back in” to town leadership once they learned of the trouble after leaving the council for a term.
“We didn’t realize the mess that we dove into,” said Tim Patrick, who sat next to Rod Patrick at the meeting.
Former council member Barbara Wall, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022, told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday phone interview that the problems have persisted for more than two decades — including the pre-hiatus term when the Patricks were in office prior.
“They keep saying that (it’s the prior administration’s fault) and doing that to us,” Wall said. “We were only in there for two years.”
She later clarified that by “we,” she meant herself and former council member Aleta Driver.
Driver did not respond by publication time to a voicemail request for comment.
“I’m not sure why it’s always been a mess,” said Wall with a wry laugh. “But the clerks cannot seem to stay. We can’t keep a consistent clerk.”
Tim Patrick, in his own Thursday interview, cited problems with clerks as well. He said the town is working instead with a bookkeeping service right now, to correct the problems.
Former mayor Dennis Chambers did not return a Thursday email request for comment by publication time.
Year After Year
Department of Audit Director Justin Chavez told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that he hadn’t worked closely with that audit and referred the outlet to the department’s public funds administrator, Rich Cummings.
Cummings was out of the office Thursday, however, and did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
The department’s website displays audit results dating back to 2004. Only one of those, the 2022 investigation, is about Manderson.
Management Audit Committee Chair Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, indicated Tuesday during a back-and-forth with the Patricks that Manderson’s problems are long-running.
“We get a list of non-compliance,” said Knapp. “And that list tends to be the same year after year after year.”
The committee in July subpoenaed Manderson town leaders, along with leaders of other noncompliant entities, to demand testimony about the flaws of each.
Tim Patrick testified that the town is working toward fixing the issues.
Cummings gave an update on the town’s quest for compliance as well. The department is requiring monthly updates from town leaders to monitor their progress, he said, adding, “they’re compliant with their reporting at this point in time.”
Knapp and Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, both emphasized a need for continued monitoring.
If You'd Have Called
The Patricks disputed the need for lawmakers to issue a subpoena. Subpoenas can lead to criminal penalties if the subject fails to appear.
“We feel if you would have called us and asked us to come down without subpoenaing us, we’d have come in a heartbeat,” said Tim Patrick.
Tim Patrick also read aloud from a letter, which Rod Patrick signed as mayor. Rod Patrick said his brother was doing most of the talking because Tim had been handling the town’s affairs during Rod’s many medical struggles.
“While I understand the importance of accountability in public service, I must express serious concern over the Committee’s approach and the message it sends to communities like ours,” says the letter, which Tim Patrick also allowed Cowboy State Daily to photograph. “To be subpoenaed without first being invited to speak voluntarily is not only unprecedented but also disheartening.”
Knapp countered mildly. Manderson is so often listed as noncompliant, and the subpoena was “not a punishment thing,” he said. “We just want to understand where you’re at – and what’s happening.”
Black Eye, Too
Manderson made statewide headlines in the past year for another reason: in 2024 its then-police chief colluded to protect a drug possession suspect with whom he was romantically involved, according to court documents.
The former chief has since been sentenced to a mix of jail and probation and has agreed to surrender his Wyoming policing certification.
“Yeah, that kinda gave us a black eye too,” said Tim Patrick in his Thursday interview.
Tim Patrick said he doesn’t believe the police chief’s misconduct and the town’s financial woes are connected.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
