The Friends of Mercer County Parks, which raises money for the park commission, is the focus of an ongoing state investigation.
MERCER COUNTY -- The executive director of the Mercer County Park Commission and his brother, a senior manager at the commission, were given Rice notices late Friday, an attorney said.
Jack Furlong, who represents parks executive director Kevin Bannon, confirmed Saturday he received the notice Friday evening.
The Friends of Mercer County Parks, which raises money for the park commission, is the focus of an ongoing state investigation over allegations of official misconduct, corruption of public resources and theft by extortion.
In late April, state authorities raided the county's historic Hunt House and tennis center as part of the investigation, officials said.
Furlong said Saturday he did not have a lot of details about the notice - it did not contain a lot of of information. He said Bannon's employment will be discussed at the next park commission meeting, on Tuesday.
Such notices are required by state law when a public employee's employment status will be discussed by an employer. The meeting can be done in a body's executive session, or the employee can ask for a public hearing.
Furlong said he suspects the notice has to do with his official request to extend Bannon's voluntary leave of absence - which started in late April, a few days after state authorities executed search warrants at park offices.
Terry Bannon's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bannon has been the park commission's director since 2004 and makes $135,275. His 30-day leave was with pay.
The park commission is a semi-autonomous agency and appointments to the executive director position fall under the purview of the commission's nine-member board.
Mercer County spokeswoman Julie Willmot has said the said the nonprofit friends group is "completely independent from the county" much like other "Friends of" groups that raise money to fund programs and services outside the regular budget for the library branches, the wildlife center and the Howell Living History Farm.
Documents, however, show connections between the group and county officials.
After the investigation became public, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes announced the county would conduct a forensic audit into the 2013, 2014 and 2015 finances of the Friends of Mercer County Parks to get a clearer picture.
Before Bannon joined the county, he was the head basketball coach at Rutgers. He was fired in 2001 after failing to lead the team to the NCAA tournament in his four years and renewed negative publicity over an incident in 1997.
He had ordered two players and a team manager to run sprints in the nude after losing a free-throw shooting contest. He previously coached at Rider University and then-Trenton State College.
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