The Iowa Auditor’s office is seeking harsher penalties for individuals that steal public funds.

State Auditor Rob Sand has done several audit investigations which have sometimes revealed governmental officials stealing public funds. However, Sand tells Raccoon Valley Radio most of the time these individuals that commit these crimes only get probation and he is advocating for prison time as a more serious consequence.

“And these are the kind of crimes that we can actually deter people from committing. These people are sober, they are committing these crimes on a regular basis, month after month, week after week. They’re thinking about it when they’re doing it. They’re calculating in their minds, ‘Oh well maybe I’ll just get probation.’ They’re able to talk themselves into this by thinking it’s not going to be, even if they get caught, it’s not going to be that big of a deal. Well it is a big deal. It’s a big deal to taxpayers and taxpayers deserve to have their money treated with respect.”

Sand is pushing for legislation this session to make prison time part of the state law.