A former Wright County employee is facing a misdemeanor charge after authorities say he made a copy of a county database program, according to court records. 

 

A criminal complaint states Timothy John Lorsung faces one count of violating government data practices. 

 

The complaint said the Wright County Sheriff's Office was informed of the breach in April 2018. An employee in the county's IT department told authorities that Lorsung had said he made a copy of a county program to work on it outside of the office. The complaint said the program contains "sensitive or protected personal data including names, dates of birth and social security numbers." 

 

Investigators spoke with Lorsung, who admitted he had taken a copy of the database home, the complaint said. Lorsung said the database contained private information and said he knew what he did was wrong. The complaint said Lorsung told authorities he took the database home so he could "better understand the system." 

 

He stressed the data is safe, adding "I didn't sell it, didn't do anything to it, there's data in there I didn't even know I had."

 

Lorsung has since been fired from his IT position with the county.