When St Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain left office in 2016, he received a $24,318 payout for unused sick and annual leave, according to records obtained by WWL-TV. A federal grand jury subpoena, issued to the Sheriff’s Office in March, indicates that payout is part of the ongoing investigation into Strain and one of his privatized work release programs.
The subpoena asks for all documents related to the payout, including leave records, copies of checks and correspondence with staff about the payout.
Strain was making a $156,118.72 salary, which includes a 10 percent bump for “expenses.” That number is clearly set in state law, but what is unclear, is whether elected officials are eligible to accrue annual leave.
“The first thing they're gonna want to know is, is he even entitled to this leave? And if he is, did he properly document that he was entitled to the leave? And was he paid the right amount that he was actually entitled to,” speculated WWL-TV Legal Analyst Pauline Hardin about what federal prosecutors will want to know about the payment.
When a federal grand jury indicted former St Tammany Parish Coroner Peter Galvan in 2013, the bill of information read, "…as an elected official, Galvan did not earn annual nor sick leave."
One of the counts against Galvan was for taking $111,000 in public funds he wasn't entitled to in the form of a payout for unused sick and annual leave. He later pleaded guilty.
But over the years, legal opinions from the Louisiana Attorney General have blurred the eligibility line, saying the elected official is an employee of the agency they head and like the rest of the employees, they can accumulate sick and vacation time if "formal records are maintained to reflect that the leave was accrued and unused."
In Strain's case, sources close to the Sheriff’s Office said Strain and his top deputies did not fill out daily time sheets, but records show Strain did document leave time he had taken since 2012.
Beyond his eligibility, the payout is greater than what is allowed under STPSO’s annual leave policy.
It says employees with more than 15 years of service accrue 208 hours of annual leave a year. While they are able to carry over 40 hours to the following year, the policy states when people leave the STPSO, they can only receive a maximum payment for 208 hours of unused leave.
Strain was paid for 360 hours, amounting to $10,267.
While legal experts say that’s a relatively small amount of money for a public corruption case, the mountain of documents requested in the subpoena indicate it’s a small part of a much larger investigation into the work release program.
“The more serious crimes would obviously be public corruption with regard to the contracts. So, if the sheriff was engaged in any other types of crimes that would show his greed, that he was in this to get money, that he was a greedy person,” Hardin said.
Sheriff Randy Smith stopped accruing leave time six months after he took office. An internal email obtained by Eyewitness News indicates he cut off his accrual at the recommendation of the Louisiana Sheriff's Association, which discourages the practice to sheriffs around the state.
Strain did not return a call seeking comment.