New study from State Auditor’s Office argues for spending more on college majors likely to stay in the state and earn a good living

JACKSON, Miss. – State Auditor Shad White released a report today arguing for changing the way taxpayer money is spent at Mississippi’s public universities. The report highlights the degree programs whose graduates are most likely to stay in Mississippi or land a good-paying job versus the ones who are not.
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Payment from Management & Training Corporation, a private prison company, marks one of the largest civil recoveries in the history of the Mississippi Auditor’s Office

JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced that Management & Training Corporation (MTC), a private prison company, has tendered over $5.125 million back to the state.
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JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced former school superintendent Bill Brand has pleaded guilty. Brand was indicted and arrested in August of 2021 for False Representations to Defraud the Government. Brand falsified student attendance records for October and November of 2020. Brand used a school district employee’s Student Management Account without their knowledge to falsify the records to the Mississippi Department of Education. The falsification of records was an attempt to increase the funding provided by the state to the school district.
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JACKSON, Miss. – A new report released today by State Auditor Shad White shows over $590 million in unemployment compensation was misspent in Mississippi alone during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Department of Justice has called the unemployment fraud around the nation during COVID “unprecedented.” Today’s report also highlights the Office of the State Auditor’s use of advanced data analytics tools such as geospatial and multi-datapoint analysis to investigate widespread fraud.
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JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced that special agents from his office arrested Alicia Landaverde. Landaverde was a Customer Service Representative for the City of Gautier Utility Department. She is charged with Embezzlement and False Statements.
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JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced that Former Alcorn County Tax Collector Larry Ross pled guilty to False Representations to Defraud the Government. The case was prosecuted Friday in Judge Funderburk’s courtroom, where Ross accepted his plea agreement.
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JACKSON, Miss. – A new report released today by State Auditor Shad White shows two programs meant to address Mississippi’s healthcare shortage are working but need improved policies. Today’s report also shows how these programs—the Mississippi Rural Physicians and Dentists Scholarship Programs—have operated over time and how many providers have been placed in needy areas.
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JACKSON, Miss. – State Auditor Shad White announced in today’s Audit Exceptions Report for Fiscal Year 2023 that the office recovered over $1.99 million in taxpayer funds and returned them to the deserving entities. Over the last 5 years, State Auditor Shad White’s office has both demanded and recovered more taxpayer money than in any other five-year period in history.
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JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced Shoral Bounds has pleaded guilty to Embezzlement. Bounds, a former lead cashier for Clarksdale Public Utilities, was indicted and arrested for embezzlement in June of 2022. The guilty plea was recorded today in Judge Hunter Nowell’s courtroom.
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JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White addressed the US House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare on the massive misappropriation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds uncovered by his office. White presented the case to lawmakers in Washington, DC, and emphasized the need for stronger safeguards to prevent such fraud in the future.
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