Prison chief reports on reform

Newly appointed corrections boss Tom Patterson tried to assure lawmakers that he is making changes within the Utah Department of Corrections.

"We are in the process of building trust," Patterson testified before before the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee on Wednesday.

He ran down a list of problems pointed out by a recent legislative audit that led to his hasty appointment in January. Patterson said he has restructured the human resources office, created a new chief of investigations that reports to him, referred complaints against the department to outside entities and tried to discourage retired corrections employees to come back in leadership positions.

Patterson told the committee he views the 2006 legislative audit as "positive feedback." The audit was an indictment of the Department of Corrections, describing a culture of "good ol' boys club" favoritism. The audit led to the removal of then-corrections chief Scott Carver.

Patterson also said he has brought employees up-to-date on training and cut off privileges letting some corrections employees take state vehicles home.

The new corrections chief said he has also reopened five internal audits whose recommendations either went ignored or never implemented.

"There were several that our internal audit bureau had identified that had not been acted on," Patterson said.

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