Ethics Complaints

Purpose

The purpose of the Adams County Transparency Hotline is to provide individuals a medium through which to report suspected fraud, waste and abuse of county assets, as well as questionable ethical practices occurring within Adams County Government or by its employees. If you have been defrauded by a private business, please contact your local authorities and the Better Business Bureau.

Establishment of a hotline provides both a preventative and detective control. As a preventative control, a transparency hotline deters individuals from committing improper acts, knowing that a mechanism exists where such acts could be easily and anonymously reported. As a detective control, many improper acts are brought to the attention of an organization through tips. Hotline reports can be used to investigate improper acts, determine the nature and extent of such acts, and institute appropriate internal controls to prevent future problems. 

Privacy 

All issues reported to the transparency hotline are handled by Convercent. All reported issues will be treated as highly confidential, with select individuals informed on a need to know basis. Identities of reporting parties will not be disclosed to anyone outside the Convercent team unless the reporting party expressly grants permission to do so, or when required by federal or state law. 

Individuals wishing to report suspected fraud, waste and abuse of county assets, as well as questionable ethical practices, may do so via phone or on-line. All means of communication are managed by Convercent.

Phone: 1.800.461.9330
Web based reporting: Report an Incident

Please note: If you wish to file a report by phone you will need the organization name, Adams County; the general zip code of where the issue took place; and in depth details about the issue (time of day, department involved, etc.). After you complete your report your claim is assigned a number/access code. Please save this number; your access code allows you to check the status of your report by phone or online. If you have any questions about your report please call the Convercent staff at 1.800.461.9330.

Anti-retaliation/retribution policy

Employees shall be protected from retaliation/retribution for using the transparency hotline. No employee who, in good faith, uses the transparency hotline to report an issue shall suffer termination of employment, reduced compensation, reduced hours, or any other form of retaliation or retribution as a result of their reporting of an incident. The use of the transparency hotline does not, however, protect an employee from negative or adverse employment actions resulting from performance deficiencies, violations of policies, or layoffs within the employee’s office or department.

Abuse of the Transparency hotline

Individuals who intentionally abuse the hotline to make false accusations shall be subject to disciplinary action, including potential criminal prosecution and reimbursement of costs incurred to investigate the false claim.