Judges back state against Hudson jail contract
By: Mike Davis
Asbury Park Press
USA Today Network - New Jersey
TRENTON - As lawmakers seek to strip the comptroller's investigatory power, an appellate court panel of judges affirmed its findings that Hudson County officials illegally awarded a $13.5 million contract for health care services at a county jail.
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The Office of the State Comptroller ordered Hudson County officials in March [2025] to halt the award of a contract to Wellpath, a corporate successor to Correct Care Solutions, which had provided helaht care services for the Hudson county Correctional Center in Kearny since at least 2018.
..... Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said the county broke public contract laws in issuing the newest contract and that the county had used the same improper process to annually renew the deal since 2018.
..... In the six-year period, the county awarded nearly $40 billion to Correct Care Solutions.
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County officials hadn't provide adequate notice to the comptroller's office, as required by state law, and restricted the competition to select vendors. And because the county considered the contract to qualify under an exception for "professional services," the contract didn't go through a public and competitive bidding process.
..... "The Appellate Division's decision affirms OSC's authority to ensure major public contracts are handled fairly, openly, and in compliance with the law," Walsh said in a statement. "These are fundamental protections for taxpayers and essential safeguards against favoritism, cronyism, and misuse of public funds."
..... Walsh sued in 2024 after the county proceeded with warding the contract anyway.
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The comptroller's office found that Hudson County used the same improper process to award a contract for prison health care in 2018, and it 3was renewed annually for five years at a $39.5 million cost.
.... The court agreed with Walsh, noting that "we trust the county will comply with its notification and cooperation obligations as defined by the [Local Public Contracts Law] when procuring such contracts in the future."
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Cindy Nan Vogelman, an attorney representing Hudson County, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In her answer to Walsh's 2024 lawsuit, she the county "always maintain[ed] that its award and process comported with all requirements of the Local Public contracts Law."
..... The appellate decisions is well-timed for Walsh, who waited nearly four hours to testify on his opposition to a bill that would largely strip away the comptroller's investigatory powers, especially its subpoena authority, except in Medicaid fraud cases.
..... The bill, which
was unanimously advanced by a Senate committee on December , [2025] intends for the embattled State commission of Investigation to become the state's primary government watchdog agency. under the bill, the SCI would gain oversight of the Attorney Germinal's Office and prosecutors, and even would obtain permission for wiretaps as part of its work.
..... The executive director of the SCI would gain the additional title of New Jersey inspector general - a relic of an office that was merged into the comptroller in 2010.
..... Bill sponsor and Senate President Nick Scutari, D-Union, said the legislation is about "moving forward."
..... "The creation of the powerful inspector general with a real serious group of individuals to vet out waste, fraud, abuse," Scutari said.
..... SCI Executive Director Bruce Keller told the senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee that the comptroller's investigation work would "continue under the auspices of an entity with an almost 60-year successful track record."
..... The SCI's 'statutory mandate expressly makes it better suited to conduct that work without interference and then disclose its findings to you and the public in the interest of a goal we all share: transparency," Keller said.
..... The bill has been opposed by virtually everyone else, with accusations that legislative Democrats targeted the comptroller office - and Walsh, specifically - for its steady stream of investigations into public officials improperly spending taxpayers dollars.
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Some recent examples include:
* A "covert takeover" of public health insurance funds, which cover thousands of public workers, by a South Jersey firm founded by political power broker George Norcross. That firm had executives working on both sides of the contract, essentially issuing contracts to themselves, the comptroller found.
* Irvington officials spent more than $600,000 in opioid settlement funds on two town concerts, instead of suing the money for prevention, treatment and recovery initiatives.
* Union County commissioners paid more than $400,000 stipends and tuition reimbursement to top officials without going through the ordinance process, which requires public notice and a hearing.
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Walsh testified against the bill alongside Attorney General Matt Platkin and U.S. Senator Andy Kim, D-New Jersey. All three criticized the legislation as weakening transparency at a time when public trust in government is eroding.
..... "They're starting to see that there's a new era of politics rising that reject the broken politics, the broken machine transactional politics of the past," Kim said. "And I think they're lashing out."