Critics question potential conflict of interest in multi million Colorado polygraph program

DENVER — It’s a question that scares many people to consider: what’s going on in the mind of a sex offender? Hoping to get a glimpse inside those minds, the state of Colorado mandates polygraph examinations, sometimes known as lie detector tests, for sex offenders as part of their treatment.

During polygraphs, offenders are asked about their criminal pasts and asked to name who they’ve abused. They’re asked what they do when they’re alone. For offenders on parole or probation, they’re asked whether they have broken any rules.

They’re also asked what they think about during their most private moments. Do they think about their victims?

A polygraph examiner attempts to determine whether the offender is telling the truth or not. Offenders who are thought to be lying face consequences.

Colorado’s sex offender management board has deemed this process to be essential to the supervision and treatment of people convicted of sexual crimes. But critics say the state is performing too many tests, costing the public too much money, with little demonstrable impact on public safety.

Critics also question whether there is a conflict of interest at the heart of the state’s sex offender policy. The man whose business makes the most public money from polygraphs sits on the board that dictates how examiners are overseen and how often offenders should be tested.

“That’s the fox guarding the hen house,” said Alison Ruttenberg, an attorney who has sued on behalf of sex offenders challenging the polygraph system.

Millions spent on polygraphs

Records obtained from the state of Colorado show millions of public dollars have been used to pay for polygraphs for sex offenders in recent years.

Denver7 Investigates requested data on polygraph spending from the entities all over the state who hire polygraph examiners to test sex offenders: the Department of Corrections (where offenders are tested both in prison and out on parole), probation offices across the state, and the Division of Youth Corrections. The state dollars expended come from court fees paid by offenders.

Those numbers indicated that from 2010 through the projected end of the 2017 fiscal year in July, more than $6 million in public funds will have been paid to polygraph examiners.

Of that spending, at least $1.9 million has been paid or will be paid to Amich & Jenks, owned by Jeff Jenks, who represents polygraph examiners on the state’s Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB). (Calculating Jenks’ true slice of the pie is difficult because the Department of Corrections was unable to provide complete totals broken down by provider for years prior to 2015.)

Denver7’s analysis of state data found that in fiscal years 2015 and 2016, Amich & Jenks collected about 35% of all public dollars spent on polygraphs in Colorado. The next closest company collected about 11% of the state’s business.

READ MORE