Personnel board overturns City of Augusta termination after procurement testimony

The Restoration County Personnel Board voted to overturn the City of Augusta's termination of a procurement department employee after a special hearing that included sworn testimony from procurement staff, IT personnel and department directors.

Chair David Barbee opened the Feb. 2 special meeting and told the board it had two options: "either uphold the city's recommendation or overturn" the termination. County counsel told the board the evidence would show repeated, knowing violations of personnel policy between Aug. 4 and Sept. 17, 2025, including falsification or misrepresentation of official documents. "As a result, 110 purchase orders were issued with an incorrect authorizing name and title," counsel said during opening remarks.

The employee's representative disputed that the city would present evidence of knowing misconduct and said the employee had no prior disciplinary actions during 17 years of service. The defendant testified repeatedly that he had not been informed of the printing issue…