By NAOMI LARKIN
It cost the Department of Corrections nearly $90,000 to sack two of its probation officers at the centre of drugs-for-favours allegations.
Details the Herald obtained under the Official Information Act reveal the cost of the department's internal investigation into the two female probation officers, both from the South Auckland branch.
The figure includes fees to law firm Rudd Watts & Stone, travel, accommodation and "all other costs."
Community Probation Service spokeswoman Jan Calder said the lawyers were on a panel which gave legal advice to the department.
"It is department practice to seek independent advice from legal experts in complicated disciplinary investigations," she said.
The two officers were dismissed in June for breaches of the department's code of conduct.
In a separate incident, a former South Auckland manager, a male, was sacked after having sex with a male offender.
In March, the Herald revealed that the women, from the Otahuhu and Panmure offices, had been suspended after allegations that they were involved in a drugs-for-favours racket.
The investigation report on one of the women included claims of soft reports made for offenders and the possession and use of cannabis.
The report upheld allegations of inappropriate association with offenders. This included both women taking part in a "huge session" of cannabis smoking with an offender and his partner in their home.
The next morning the other female officer "extolled the virtues" of the offender before his sentencing judge.
In a separate incident, three unnamed offenders reported to a department official that the woman required "the exchange of drugs for favourable pre-sentence reports."
She also reportedly smoked cannabis both during and outside work hours, with offenders and in a departmental vehicle.
The report upheld the claims and stated that the woman should be "dismissed for serious misconduct."
$90,000 bill to sack probation officers
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