ggi?rii State of Alabama
Department of Corrections

Personnel Division
Alabama Criminal Justice Center mm? I, mm
on MY 301 South Ripley Street 
P. 0. Box 301501
Montgomery, AL 36130-1501

 

 

 

January 23, 2009

Gerald A. Tippins, Correctional Sergeant
Frank Lee Youth enter
Deatsville, AL 36022

Dear Mr. Tippins:

After having reviewed the recommendation of Warden Levan Thomas, your waiver of a due
process disciplinary hearing and your overall work record, you are hereby suspended without
pay for a period often (10) days to be effective February 1, 2009 through ebmary 10, 2009
inclusive. You will be charged leave without pay (lwop) for your off days and will return to
work on February 15, 2009.

On October 15, 2008, the First Shift Supervisor at Frank Lee Youth Center discovered that
an Inmate had escaped from the facility. An investigation reveal that the Inmate left the facility
on October 14, 2008 during the Second Shift sometime after the 5:08 pm. institutional
count was cleared. During your second count on October 14, 2008, your log re?ected that 
your count was down by one (1) inmate. Investigation further revealed that you amended your
log at 7:08 p.111. for your log to clear the facility count. This erroneous count followed through
during the remainder of your shift throughout the Third Shift. Prior to the aforementioned
counts, the Steward had informed you that the Inmate had not reported to the kitchen to work
the 4:00 pm. evening meal. When you received this information, you did not take the
responsibility to have the Inmate report to his assigned job nor did you attempt to locate this
Inmate which would have alerted you that the Inmate was attempting to leave or had already left
the facility.

This action coupled with you amending your institutional count allowed the Inmate to have at
least a thirteen (13) hour lead during his escape. Although, the circumstances surrounding this
escape did not conclude that the escape was because of your negligence; however, because you
failed to act in a responsible manner, you enabled the Inmate to have a substantial lead way.
Due to the seriousness of your action, this escape enabled the Inmate to commit another new
crime, which resulted in the death of a citizen.


Telephone (334) 353-9500 Fax (334) 353-9538

TippinsGA SP0000093

Page 2
Gerald A. Tippins

Your actions constitute a violation of the following standards under Administrative Regulation
203, Employees Standards of Conduct and Discipline:

1. Employees shall render full, ef?cient, and industrious service. (Section V, Paragraph
A2)


2. Employees shall observe the laws, rules, and regulations. (Section V, Paragraph A7)

In determining the appropriate corrective action for the above violations, I have considered the
following infraction:

Conducted that is disgraceful, on or off the job that does adversely affect an employee?s
effectiveness on the job. (Administrative Regulation 208, Annex H, Number 30)

A review of your overall work record reveals the following active corrective action:

September 29, 2003: Warning Failure to render ?rll, efficient, and
industrious service.

The intent of this action is to emphasize the necessity for you to follow rules and regulations.
Any similar infractions after this incident may result in ?irther corrective action. Hopefully,
your actions in the ?iture will meet standards.
S'ncerely,
PW
Richard F. Allen
Commissioner

RFA:ogg

CC: Mrs. Jackie Graham, State Personnel Director
Warden Levan Thomas, Frank Lee Youth Center
Mrs. Dora Jackson, Departmental Personnel Director

Enclosure: Employee Hearing Waiver


Telephone (334) ass-951?s) Fax (334) 353?9523

TippinSGA