The annual state auditor’s report, released Friday, showed misappropriation of funds in 48 of Mississippi’s 82 counties, including four in the Golden Triangle.
The report from state auditor Stacey Pickering showed his office recovered almost $2 million in misappropriate funds, which the report refers to as “exceptions” during Fiscal Year 2016.
An audit “exception” indicates that a violation of the law or an accounting error has resulted in a misappropriation or an incorrect expenditure of public funds. As a result, the money must be repaid.
Two of those exceptions were found in Oktibbeha County, where auditors found that both Chancery Clerk Monica Banks and Circuit Clerk Glenn Hamilton exceeded their respective fee caps.
State law enables chancery and circuit clerks to keep a portion of the fees their respective office generates, but Mississippi Code also caps their annual pay for duties. Most fees — exceptions exist, especially for chancery clerks — collected above the cap are supposed to go back into the county’s general fund.
Hamilton’s $21,501 in excess was noted as “paid in full and settled to the appropriate fund directly,” but Banks’ $84,218 in excess received only a $10,000 payment in Fiscal Year 2016, the report states, leaving a balance of $74,218.
Banks said the total presented in the report is inaccurate and said her office is challenging the bulk of the findings. The majority of the noted misappropriation, she said, came from disallowed purchases — those made by her office but later disallowed by auditors — that have added up in the last six years.
Banks’ office had not yet been contacted by the state auditor’s office with the report’s figure, she said.
“It wasn’t money to me, it was purchases in this office that they turned around and said weren’t allowed. It makes it seem like I don’t know how to manage this office, but that’s not the case,” she said. “I don’t know where they got their number from, but somebody’s not adding it up right.”
District 2 Supervisor and Board President Orlando Trainer said he is aware of the audit finding in Banks’ office.
“They deal with so much money and fees, but hopefully she’ll be able to clear this up quickly,” he said.
Additionally, five Mississippi State University employees were cited in the report for repayments for missing equipment totaling $295.20. Those payments, the report states, were paid in full and settled with the appropriate entity.
The audit included one exception each for Clay and Noxubee counties.
The report cited a ruling that Randy Dixon, former chief of security for the Noxubee County School District, had misappropriated $4,053.72. Dixon was charged with embezzlement on March 16. The investigation showed that Dixon, who was a part-time patrolman for the City of Macon Police Department, provided security services for the district while he was on duty. The report indicates the money has been returned to the school district.
In Clay County, the report indicated former West Point city attorney Mark Cliett had $8,583.65 in improper expenses. The money has been reimbursed and no charges were filed.
Lowndes County was one of 34 counties were no infractions were discovered among city, county or school district personnel.
Slim Smith contributed to this report.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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