JACKSON — The Mississippi attorney general said Thursday that he might ask the state auditor or another independent investigator to look at records about a $2 million state road that was proposed near the lieutenant governor’s home.
Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood said the key question is whether there was an effort to spend taxpayer money on a project that would increase the value of property owned by a public official.
“It’s not about whether or not there was undue influence,” Hood said. “Legislators, that’s their job. I mean, citizens call on them, you know, to inquire of agencies and things about those projects.”
Hood sent letters to lawmakers and transportation officials Wednesday, telling them not to destroy electronic or paper records that show communication about the road project, which has been put on hold. Hood said he wants the records by Aug. 1.
“Our attempt here is to try to make sure we’ve thrown a net around all the evidence so it’s preserved for an independent review,” Hood said Thursday. Reporters asked Hood about the road investigation after he finished a news conference about an unrelated subject, veterans’ charities.
Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves responded Thursday that Hood’s letter is “political grandstanding by an ambitious Democrat running for office.”
Hood and Reeves are expected to run for governor next year.
The short segment of road was proposed to connect a shopping area in the Jackson suburb of Flowood to two nearby gated neighborhoods, including one where Reeves lives.
The frontage road was supposed to run parallel to Mississippi 25. The heavily traveled highway is also called Lakeland Drive in that area, and people who live in two neighborhoods have said it can be difficult to turn left onto Lakeland.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation put the road on hold after the Clarion Ledger reported last week that the project had been planned.
The transportation department’s director, Melinda McGrath, told the newspaper there had been “political pressure” from “the Senate side” to build the frontage road. Reeves presides over the Senate.
Reeves said in a statement Thursday: “I am committed to finding out if any undue political influence by any senator or staff member was applied, and that is why I have asked the director of the Department of Transportation for any documentation to support her suggestion. She has not yet responded.”
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