Inspector General

Fraud is defined as any intentional deception designed to:

• Unlawfully deprive the Howard County government of something of value; or
• Secure from the County for an individual a benefit, privilege, allowance or consideration to which the individual is not entitled.

Such practices include but are not limited to:

• The offer, payment, or acceptance of bribes or gratuities.
• Making false statements.
• Submitting false claims.
• Evading or corrupting inspectors or other officials.
• Deceit either by suppressing the truth or misrepresenting material facts.
• Altering or substituting materials.
• Falsifying records.
• Arranging for secret profits, kickbacks or commissions.
• Conspiring to commit any of these offenses.

The term also includes conflict of interest cases and the unauthorized disclosure of official information relating to procurement matters.

Waste is defined as the use or expenditure of County resources carelessly, extravagantly, or for a purpose that is not in the best interest of the County government or the citizens of Howard County. This includes incurring unnecessary costs resulting from inefficient or ineffective practices, systems or controls.

For purposes of the OIG, abuse and misconduct are synonymous and used interchangeably. These are defined as making decisions or choices in one’s capacity as a Howard County employee that are excessive, improper, unethical, illegal, or that are otherwise detrimental to the County government or the citizens of Howard County.

If known, the following information should be provided for all relevant subjects, victims, witnesses and companies involved:

• Full names
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Physical addresses
• Titles, positions and agencies of any involved County employees

It is also helpful to know as many facts about the alleged incident or violation, such as:

• The specific nature of the inappropriate act (give as many details as possible).
• The reasons why you believe the act is inappropriate.
• The location where the act took place.
• The date and time the act occurred.
• Whether any evidence of the act exists and where the evidence is located.

An individual may request confidentiality when reporting fraud, waste and abuse to the OIG. When you file your complaint or provide information, you must tell the OIG that you are requesting confidentiality or that you wish to remain anonymous. However, you are encouraged to identify yourself to the OIG so that we may follow up with you to obtain as many details about your complaint as possible to aid us in our investigation. If you give your name, your identity will be protected to the maximum extent allowed by law.

We conduct a preliminary assessment of the complaint to determine the credibility of the complaint and whether the OIG has jurisdiction. That process may involve someone from the OIG contacting you to obtain additional details about your complaint.

Pursuant to Title 22 Sub-Title 12, the OIG has jurisdiction over Howard County government employees, resources, operations and vendors.

Some possible outcomes to a complaint are as follows, if the complaint:

• Does not pertain to Howard County government business—It gets referred to another local, state or federal government agency, or a nongovernmental organization if appropriate.
• Does pertain to Howard County government business:
  • But does not fall within the OIG’s jurisdiction—It gets referred to the appropriate Howard County agency.
  • But there was insufficient information provided with the complaint, a lack of initial evidence to corroborate the allegation(s), or concerns about the credibility of the complainant, then the complaint is closed administratively.
  • And there are no concerns about the credibility of the complainant and there is sufficient information and initial evidence to support the complaint—An investigation is opened and it is assigned to an OIG investigator.

For matters that do not fall within the OIG’s jurisdiction, the OIG will advise you, when feasible, of the disposition of your complaint. For those matters that do fall within the OIG’s jurisdiction, the OIG will not provide details concerning actions that have been taken in response to a complaint, nor will the OIG provide updates during the course of an investigation. Unless you are contacted directly by one of our investigators regarding a complaint, there will be no communication from the OIG about pending matters.

1. Determination made to close complaint after preliminary investigation.
2. Determination made to convert to a full investigation after preliminary investigation.

1. Determination that OIG report issued. See step 6.
2. Determination that OIG report not issued.

A draft OIG report initially issued to Administration and, when applicable, the County Council, with an option to provide a response to the report. The Administration has 15 business days to provide a response to the draft OIG Report.

A final OIG report will be posted online. The final report will include a copy of the Response from the relevant agency, if provided. Final OIG reports are distributed to the Administration, County Council, the Inspector General Advisory Board and the public.