The AOC's secretiveness
DateTime:9/27/2009 11:20:23 AM
Refusing to answer questions about whether Scott had notified the AOC of the drug charge, whether he was disciplined because of it, or what role his family ties had in the promotion — further damages the agency's standing.

Secrecy has become something of a hallmark at the AOC, which is exempted from the state's open records law. That's made it hard to sort out just where the money has gone in the $800 million courthouse building spree overseen by former Chief Justice Joseph Lambert.

Codell Construction has gotten the job as construction manager on almost 60 percent of the courthouse jobs. Relatives of the Codell family that controls it and employees of the company have been active contributors to county judge-executives and other local officials involved in deciding the contracts, and have contributed about $3,500 to the campaigns of Lambert's wife, Debra Lambert, for family court judge and circuit court judge.Lambert's son worked for a time for Ross Sinclaire & Associates, which handled the bonds on more than 68 percent of the courthouse projects. The son's girlfriend was hired for an unadvertised human resources job at AOC.