DEERFIELD TWP. — Township officials are changing their hiring practices, a week after learning that the township administrator was cited for a minor sex offense three years ago.

        Dan Theno, who became executive administrator last year, was cited for lewd and lascivious behavior during a 1998 police sting at an adult bookstore in Green Bay, Wis. He was cited by police but not taken into custody.

Theno

        Mr. Theno, a former state senator in Wisconsin, pleaded no contest to the charges and paid a $337 fine.

        Trustees President Larry Backus said this week that the incident will affect the way the township handles all future hirings. He said criminal background checks will no longer be optional for applicants.

        “From now on, we will ask all applicants to sign a waiver allowing us to do a background check on them,” Mr. Backus said, noting such checks would be conducted by the Warren County Sheriff's Office. “If they don't sign the waiver, chances are they won't be hired.”

        Mr. Backus said he was surprised when another township employee told him about the citation in December. He said the misdemeanor charge did not show up in the criminal background check Deerfield did when it hired Mr. Theno.

        He added that Mr. Theno failed to mention the incident during his job interview with trustees.

        “Would this information have had an effect on my decision to hire him? I would be a liar if I said it wouldn't have made a difference,” Mr. Backus said.

        “But would it have made the difference? I can't say, because we did truly believe that Dan was the best man for the job.”

        Mr. Theno said it was never his intention to mislead anyone. He said he believes he answered trustees truthfully when he told them he did not have a criminal past.

        “It was an error in judgment that I made nearly three years ago and as far as I'm concerned, a minor incident and past history,” Mr. Theno said.

        “I was not arrested and I was not charged with a crime. It was a municipal ordinance violation because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

        Trustees said they do not view the situation as serious enough to warrant dismissal.

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