One of the seats on the Delaware County Jail Oversight Board reserved for citizens is filled by a man who runs a behavioral health company that has made millions recently from county contracts. 

Brian Corson runs MPV Recovery, a local health care company that, according to its website “assists clients in identifying their Critical Relapse Warning Signs and teaches them the tools necessary to navigate life stressors in sobriety.” While there is an obvious natural fit between criminal populations and drug abuse issues, the relationship also raises real conflict-of-interest ethical issues.

Minutes of JOB meetings show Corson has been serving in one of the two “citizen appointment” seats since at least December 2019.

According to a county document obtained through a Right to Know Law request, MVP recovery has made at least $4.5 million in business with Delaware County since 2022. It is currently unclear how much of that business is directly related to services for the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.

One expert on government ethics agreed that Corson’s seat on the board raised problems.

“Yes, there are conflicts of interest present here. If a member of a public body — the Jail Oversight Board in this case — also has a business that is contracted  with the County government, that member should not be recommending or voting on any matter that is related to those contracts,” said Professor John Pelissero, the director of the Government Ethics program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University and a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago. 

“The member should abstain or recuse themselves from any matter related to their contracts. The public needs to know that the member is looking out for their ethical duty to serve the public interest and not to provide benefits to one’s private or financial interests.”

“If the county or jail oversight board does periodic review of its contractors, the member who has a contract with the government should not be involved in that review and therefore should recuse themselves from such discussions and review.

“Trust in government is important and if members of the board appear to not be acting in the public interest, it will erode trust in that board member and in the county government, more broadly,” Pelissero concluded.

In general, contracts for the George W. Hill Correctional Facility are voted on by the regular county council, and not the oversight board. As the name implies, the jail oversight board’s duties are more constrained to oversight as opposed to day-to-day management.

Yet one other area of potential conflict remains. In some instances, the ethical concerns become whether the board member can be a robust, independent voice willing to criticize the government he or she serves and risk falling out of favor and possibly losing some of the contracts already in hand. In colloquial terms, would someone with millions of dollars in contracts with the county bite the hand that feeds?

Sources in the prison known to Broad + Liberty (and who have been given anonymity because of concerns about career retaliation) say MVP Recovery does perform some work in the prison. That, too, would put Corson in a position in which he would to some degree be tasked with performing oversight on his own company.

Corson vocally asserted his independence in a statement to Broad + Liberty.

“My term on the Delaware County Jail Oversight Board is coming to an end, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have been part of such important work. My efforts on the board were always guided by integrity and transparency, and from the beginning, I have been open about my professional background and affiliations. 

“My focus was on advocating for the care and support of individuals with behavioral health needs, ensuring their voices were heard, and working toward meaningful improvements in our county jail system. While I was honored to be asked to serve another term, I have decided not to continue due to other commitments. At no point did I fear retribution from the county towards my agency for speaking my mind or advocating for what I believed was right. I am proud of what we accomplished and remain committed to serving our community in other ways.”

Corson did not answer a follow-up question as to whether he had ever voted on any issue related to any of the contracts MVP Recovery holds with the county.

Several contracts between the county and MVP Recovery contain language as shown in the screenshot below, which says, “No Contractor…shall be an agent of the County…”

A 2020 document from the county explicitly outlines that “No member of Council can have significant financial interest in any entity having a contract with the County, including subcontractors, or with subordinate governmental entities when funds must be approved, directly or indirectly, by Council.” But the same document is largely silent about any other appointed positions within the county, such as seats on the election board or jail oversight board.

An online document for the Delaware County Workforce Development Board asks for members to sign a conflict of interest statement.

The county did not respond to a request for comment, including a request as to whether the county had any documented guidelines or ethical code of conduct for JOB members.

Broad + Liberty has no evidence that MVP Recovery’s services to the county have been subpar in any way. Reviews of campaign finance filings for Councilmember Kevin Madden, who has chaired the Jail Oversight Board for several years now, did not show any donations from Corson or MVP Recovery.

Todd Shepherd is Broad + Liberty’s chief investigative reporter. Send him tips at tshepherd@broadandliberty.com, or use his encrypted email at shepherdreports@protonmail.com. @shepherdreports