⚠️ Collapse at DAS: Systemic Failures, and a County Government That’s Not Paying Attention

From budget deficits, a closed Parks Foundation, mismanagement at the library, rampant homelessness, tax increases, and a lack of responsiveness to fire prevention needs, a pattern has emerged.

On Tuesday, July 15, the Washoe County Board of Commissioners formally received a 67-point internal audit detailing the collapse of the Department of Alternative Sentencing (DAS)—a department once responsible for supervising pretrial defendants, conducting drug testing, and administering court-mandated alternatives to incarceration. The report, finalized on June 26, had already been shared with management and audit committee members before Tuesday’s meeting; yet, the Board’s response was limited to a procedural acknowledgment—no formal directives, no accountability measures, and no interim restructuring.

This was not a surprise audit. And yet it seemed to catch the Board flat-footed.

⚖️ Department of Alternative Sentencing (DAS)

🎯 Purpose:

To supervise individuals who are assigned court-ordered alternative sentences instead of incarceration, often pretrial or post-conviction.

🔧 Functions Include:

• Drug and alcohol testing (Sober24)

• Electronic monitoring (ankle bracelets, GPS)

• Supervision of people in diversion or specialty court programs (DUI, drug, mental health courts)

• Case management and reporting to courts

• Fee collection and compliance enforcement

👥 Population Served:

Primarily offenders referred by criminal courts, including low- to moderate-risk defendants or those in court diversion programs.

🚨 A Department in Collapse

The Department of Alternative Sentencing, or DAS, was once a vital component of Washoe County’s justice system. It operated the Sober24 drug testing program, supervised low-risk defendants awaiting trial, and provided case management for individuals in diversion and recovery programs. But behind the scenes, the department had been in freefall for years.

The audit reveals an agency plagued by dysfunction:

• Unsecured chemicals and ammunition are stored in hallways.

• Officers conduct unauthorized traffic stops without legal authority.

• Timecard manipulation—with officers reportedly being paid for time spent commuting.

• Repeated budget overruns, improper invoice entries, and a lack of reconciliation processes.

• No inventory controls, including for laboratory chemicals and firearms-related materials.

• Fee schedules are out of sync with actual service costs and inconsistent billing to courts.

Most alarming of all, the report confirms that DAS is under federal investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, which effectively shut down department operations earlier this year.

🧯 The Fire Alarm Was Sounding—Years Ago

Commissioner Mike Clark was visibly frustrated at Tuesday’s meeting. He reminded the Board that he raised concerns nearly two years ago, warning about the DAS director’s questionable outside business dealings and the department’s lack of oversight. At the time, his concerns were brushed aside by fellow commissioners.

Now, with a federal agency involved and the department imploding, his warnings appear not only prescient but also ignored at significant cost.

Internal Audit Manager Caitlyn Kaidosy presented the findings, explaining that DAS was added to the audit schedule in 2024 after a growing volume of concerns surfaced. Her team meticulously documented the operational breakdowns and provided a roadmap for corrective action. Kaidosy and her staff were commended for their work, but the fact remains: by the time the auditors got involved, irreparable damage had already occurred.

🛑 Executive Management Owns Up—But What’s Next?

County Manager Kate Thomas took partial responsibility during the meeting, acknowledging that executive staff failed to detect the dysfunction sooner. She promised to strengthen internal controls—not just at DAS, but across all departments.

And yet no structural changes were proposed. No disciplinary recommendations were made. No new oversight body was formed.

The Board’s only action? A unanimous vote to “acknowledge receipt” of the audit report.

❓Where’s the Urgency?

What this moment demands is a reckoning. DAS didn’t fail quietly—it imploded under the weight of years of mismanagement, leaving the courts, recovery programs, and justice-involved individuals without the services they had come to depend on.

This is not a mere case of bureaucratic sloppiness. It’s a case study in what happens when elected officials, department heads, and executive leadership look the other way while warning signs flash in plain view.

There was no motion on Tuesday to freeze further spending, no call for an interim operations team, and no public statement regarding the continuity of services for affected individuals. The BCC just accepted the report and sat there.

In short, the public got a devastating report—and a shrug.

📌 A Pattern of Failure: How Washoe County Keeps Missing the Warning Signs

The collapse of the Department of Alternative Sentencing is not an isolated incident; it’s the latest in a growing list of breakdowns in Washoe County government oversight. From budget deficits to the implosion of the Parks Foundation to the mismanagement at the library system, and a lack of responsiveness to fire prevention needs, rampant homelessness, increasing taxes, a pattern has emerged: warnings are ignored, problems are hidden until they become uncontainable, and accountability comes only after public embarrassment.

Now, with a federally investigated department effectively shuttered and public funds at risk, county leadership faces a critical test. Will they finally confront the culture of complacency and denial that has allowed these failures to happen, or will DAS become just another scandal quietly buried while the public pays the price?

Because the real question isn’t just how DAS fell apart, it’s: Who was watching, and why didn’t they act sooner?