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AGO clarifies OHS personnel issues
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Posted on Nov 21 2005
The Attorney General’s Office has clarified employment issues concerning certain personnel hired by the Emergency Management Office director before the creation of the CNMI Office of Homeland Security.
In a legal opinion, the AGO said that those employees who were hired by EMO director Rudy Pua while he was still state administering agency for homeland security matters and who were paid using grant funds are not employees of the newly created CNMI Office of Homeland Security.
OHS was established by Public Law 14-63 which took effect on April 25, 2005. It is administered by Jerry Crisostomo, the governor’s special assistant for homeland security.
Then acting attorney general Clyde Lemons and assistant attorney general Jeanne Rayphand, issued the legal opinion at the request of Crisostomo.
The AGO maintained that the EMO director did not have authority under P.L. 14-63 to administer or to hire personnel for the Office of Homeland Security. Thus, those persons hired by the EMO director are not OHS employees.
However, EMO was authorized to assign one of its personnel to represent EMO on the Terrorism Task Force within the OHS and representative would be under the direct supervision of the special assistant for homeland security, according to the AGO.
The agency also said that only employees who are within or assigned to OHS are entitled to 20-percent stand-by differential and that differential should be paid out of the OHS’s annual budget.
Furthermore, the AGO clarified that, as the administrator for the Homeland Security Office, Crisostomo also serves as the hiring and expenditure authority for the agency.
On the question of the special assistant’s entitlement to differential pay while on official travel within the CNMI or abroad, the AGO said that P.L. 14-63 places no limitations on the authorization for stand-by differential.
However, the AGO said, the Homeland Security Office may need to look at specific grants and federal restrictions if its annual budget consists of federal grants.
