Parks and rec director resigns after background screening negligence

Pat Plocek, head of Parks and Recreation in Leon County, Florida, recently resigned following allegations that the county's youth baseball coaches had not received background screenings, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Plocek submitted his letter of resignation on May 25. A review by deputy county administrator Vince Long determined that background screenings had not been recorded for coaches or volunteers at the park for the past two seasons. Long began looking into the screening process after a parent of a child who played on the Woodville Little League team expressed concern about an assistant coach. Background checks had been performed for youth sports coaches at all other parks in Florida, and Plocek's failure to comply with the protocol was a "serious breach in procedure compliance," Long told the media outlet. Coaches are not the only adults in contact with youth sports participants who are screened. In Letcher County, Kentucky, two longtime high school sports officials - one referee and one umpire - were recently arrested and charged with trafficking oxycodone at sporting events, according to the Kentucky Herald-Leader. Tommy Hutton, 60, and Joseph Jay Wright, 39, both pleaded not guilty and are being held on $50,000 bonds.