Director of the state agency examined to take part in the orange bowl on the working trip

The director of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission left a work conference in Florida last month to take part in the Orange Bowl, according to a state investigation.

The Oregon Department of Administrative Services received a report from an employee about a possible “abuse of resources” by OLCC director Craig Prins last month.

This led to the investigation in which Prins was paid for his own game ticket and his rental car when he visited the semi-final college soccer game between Notre Dame and Penn State.

The investigator did not find the state money, but found that Prins drove to the game during working hours and later took an inquiry for 4.5 hours “after he was informed about this investigation”.

Prins bought the ticket a week in advance, but only told his boss about it in the morning of the game and then asked to jump out the afternoon meetings at the conference at the conference.

Prins, who took over the top job at the Skandal-Tarned Agency in 2023, initially refused to comment on his side trip to the football game, but on Friday there was a statement with the inscription that the claim was “thoroughly examined” and did not find any misconduct.

He said he was “awarded” Dennis Doherty with the chairman of commission before leaving the conference to get to the Orange Bowl. Doherty took part in the same conference, but did not go to the game.

Doherty said Prins said that “he did not have to say me for the committee assemblies, which took place in the afternoon I traveled”, according to Prins'.

Prins responds to the citizens' commission appointed by governor, who heads Doherty. On Thursday or Friday, Doherty did not answer questions from the Oregonian/Oregonlive.

The state published the investigation of Prins in response to a request from the public records of Oregonian/Oregonlive. The news organization also requested it from the Liquor and cannabis commission, but the agency refused to publish it.

The Department of Administrative Services also published a copy of a report from a report that was recorded on January 13 by Jessica Knieling, his Chief Human Resources Officer, in which the complaint was referred to Prins. The identity of the person who complained is reduced.

Prins and Doherty took part in a meeting of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association Board from January 8 to January 12th in Omni Amelia Island Resort on the northeast coast of Florida.

The association represents so -called control state systems such as Oregon, which carry out some or all aspects of alcohol distribution or sales of monopolies.

The football game at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens-Fast A six-hour journey from the conference-began on Thursday, January 9, at 7:30 p.m. local time at the first full day of the association's meeting. Notre lady won.

According to the conference plan provided by the association to Oregonian/Oregonlive, a reception and dinner took place at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 4 p.m.

Prins informed the state investigator that on January 2, he had paid 496.97 US dollars for a play ticket after learning that Notre Dame was qualified for the Orange Bowl. He used his own money.

“Executive Director Prins has confirmed that he is an emergency lady -football fan,” the investigator noticed.

Prins assumed that the work conference on Marco Island, the location of the organization's former convention, was taking place, but about 400 miles were removed.

The name of Doherty is reduced from the report, but the circumstances make it clear that it is the one who met Prins in the morning of the game.

Prins then told Doherty that he had a ticket for the Orange Bowl game and the two had discussed the conference meetings on the schedule.

Prins “asked if he could go to the game after lunch,” the report said.

Doherty said to him: “It was fine, it was a unique chance in a lifelong chance” and told him that he should return on Friday, January 10th at 7:30 a.m.

On the long journey to the game, Prins said that he had done work, “the handsfree functions of his phone” and occasionally stopped to check and sign records.

Prins told the investigator that he had returned to the resort, where the conference was held after the game and that the conference meetings arrived at the conference meetings on that day. The report indicates that he drove all night and slept briefly in the conference hotel before participating in the morning meetings.

Doherty told the investigator that after his return from the game “was fully present for the meetings for the meetings.”

Prins informed the investigator that he submitted the time victim request for the fact “because he did not want to appear in inappropriateness”.

He said he “thought he had done many hours this week to get a full working week.”

Prins took over the leadership of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission in the middle of the top management after a personnel examination of 2022 had come to the conclusion that they used their positions to access an estimated bourbon.

The managers, including the long -time executive director and his deputy, bought a sought -after bourbon that was kept in reserve, an offer that is known as security shares.

The managers said they had sent the bottles of spirits shops where they bought them and kept them for themselves or gave the alcohol as gifts according to the examination. Everyone refused to resale the bottles that are in demand on the secondary market.

The scandal rocked the commission and led to the appointment of Prins, governor Tina Kotek's election, to stabilize the entrance shipping. The agency regulates the sale of alcohol in Oregon and generates a projected $ 576 million for the current two-year budget.

At the beginning of Prins' term of office, Kotek said that she supported his efforts to advance responsibility and transparency in the agency. Your office did not answer on Friday to an inquiry about the comment.

Prins has a long history in the state government. He headed the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, a small agency that crunches data for political decision -makers, and served as general inspector for the Corrections Department of Corrections in Oregon. Prins' content is $ 252,828.

– Noelle Crombie is a company reporter with a focus on punitive justice. Reach them at 503-276-7184; ncrombie@oregonian.com