Five county employees and one employee of a county contractor are involved.

When the 9Wants to Know investigators reported on the criminal probe Tuesday, Adams County refused to discuss employment actions taken against the workers.

On Wednesday, the county acknowledged it terminated two human services employees in May and placed two more on paid leave.

The county said in a written statement that additional information provided by prosecutors Wednesday led the county to place another employee on paid leave and a contractor did the same with another worker.

County spokeswoman Ruth Kedzior would not immediately identify the contractor when asked.

The employees have been recommended for a diversion program, rather than criminal charges, said 17th Judicial District spokeswoman Krista Flannigan.

Prosecutors have the discretion to opt for the diversion program for adults under investigation for a non-violent crime if they don't have a prior felony conviction. Participating in the diversion program involves an admission of wrongdoing, Flannigan said.

The choice to pursue diversion rather than charges will keep the county employees names from becoming public.

9Wants to Know has asked Adams County to identify the employees and their positions with county government as well as explain whether they were distributing drugs using taxpayer-paid resources.

Adams County and its contractors have been embroiled in a series of ethical scandals and criminal investigations over the past few years.

Earlier this year, Adams County employees were ordered to attend training sessions on changing the organizational culture of county government. The sessions were conducted by Chris Kline, head of the department where employees are suspected of distributing drugs.

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