Did the city of Lebanon break the law when it paid its workers? The Missouri Department of Labor says yes and wants the Laclede County Prosecutor to file criminal charges.

The Department of Labor says it became involved after an audit  found the city had a large number of wage violations. In most cases the violations occurred when temporary workers were hired at a lower rate of pay than a permanent worker would make.

When Missouri's auditor Susan Montee went public with her findings last year she said she'd never seen anything like it, a city violating wage laws for more than 20 years.

That spurred a department the Department Of Labor investigation into Lebanon city practices.

"They referenced in some documents that they sent to me that they began in April of this year and concluded in October of this year," explains Angie Hemphill Wright, Laclede County Prosecutor.

The audit found the city awarded contractors projects but with the understanding that construction workers would become temporary city workers. That put those workers on a lower wage and benefit level than prevailing wage standards in the industry.

"I can confirm that they allege a prevailing wage law violation," adds Wright.

Prosecutor Hemphill Wright says her problem is she can't prosecute a city. She says she needs names of those who broke the law and so far the Department of Labor hasn't given those to her.

"I anticipate I will contact the Department of Labor with a request for additional information," adds Hemphill Wright.

The mayor and city attorney were not available for comment, but Councilman Ralph Pitts says the city didn't do anything wrong.

"To my knowledge, no I think that since the audit we learned a great deal. There's always going to be times that the general public doesn't understand how things are done, so us as individuals need to find out ourselves and be a little proactive before we make an assumption," explains Pitts.

While Pitts says the city has learned, there are still a lot of questions.  How much did the city save by paying lower wages? And are those workers eligible for back pay? No one is saying right now, but answers are like if the case goes to court.

The audit also found a conflict of interest when it saw that a city council member voted on a building project where the council member would have been on the payroll for that project.

KOLR/KSFX asked the Department of Labor who it wants prosecutor Hemphill Wright to prosecute, it was looking into it, but as not given us a definite answer.