Former Rome police officer facing charges of misconduct and theft in Adams County
FRIENDSHIP − The Adams County District Attorney's Office filed charges Friday against a former Rome police officer who authorities say charged for hours worked as an officer while receiving money for teaching.
Katrina M. Czys, 39, of Wisconsin Rapids, faces two felony counts of misconduct in office and two misdemeanor counts of theft. She's scheduled to make her initial appearance on March 28.
According to the criminal complaint, a Nekoosa police detective was asked to investigate the possibility Czys was working as an instructor at the same time she was being paid to work as a Rome officer.
Rome Police Chief Jason Lauby gave the detective a letter Lauby had written to Czys that informed her "double dipping" was not allowed at the Rome Police Department and no officer could be paid by another employer at the same time they were being paid by the town of Rome.
Lauby also gave the detective a copy of an email Czys sent to the chief asking to check when she worked in May because she thought there might have been a mistake, and she might have received a payment from the state while she was working for Rome, according to the complaint.
Czys was paid $30.17 an hour for working 10 hours on May 16 and 10 hours on May 17, according to the complaint. The detective learned that Czys was working as an instructor for Mid-State Technical College at the same time. If an officer is working as a teacher during scheduled hours for their regular job, the state reimburses the municipality for the hours instead of paying the officer. Czys got paid $948.32 for teaching while still receiving money from Rome, according to the complaint.
Czys also turned in mileage to be reimbursed for using her personal vehicle at a cost of $26.32, but officers who attended the training said Czys drove a Rome squad car to the school, according to the complaint.
In December, Czys tried to submit a restitution payment to the town as part of her separation agreement with the Rome Police Department. She wrote a check for $1,277.49, which was $377.49 more than she owed, according to the complaint. When Lauby asked her why, Czys said she was reimbursed $206.55 by the National Alliance on Mental Illness for a trip from Wisconsin Rapids to Grafton. The town's records show Czys used a town of Rome credit card to pay for gas during the trip, according to the complaint.
If Czys is convicted of the charges, she faces a maximum sentence of 8 1/2 years in prison.
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Contact Karen Madden at (715) 345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
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This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Former Rome police officer facing charges in Adams County
