OSA

State Auditor Shad White Issues Statement on DiBiase Trial JACKSON, Miss. – “While I’m disappointed in the result of the trial, nothing changes the fact that seven people have already pleaded guilty to state or federal charges because of the welfare scandal. My hope now is that the state’s lawyers will be able to recover as much of the misspent money as possible in civil court so hard-working taxpayers can see some accountability for what happened here.”

State Auditor @ShadWhite joined the Ricky Matthews Show to discuss our recent audit of the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund. Auditor White described our office’s role perfectly here: we tell the truth about how your tax dollars were spent regardless of whether or not it upsets somebody.

State Auditor @ShadWhite joins Ricky Matthews to talk about our audit on the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund youtu.be/52lUA3RI3LI?si…

Shoutout to @MSStateAuditor Shad White for his fearless, zero-tolerance stance on waste & fraud. Exposing nonprofit scams & millions in misspent taxpayer dollars takes real guts. This is the bold leadership taxpayers deserve! 💪

Mississippians can report any instances of fraud, waste, or abuse of taxpayer funds spent by nonprofits by emailing nonprofitwaste@osa.ms.gov. Mississippians can also view every nonprofit that has received taxpayer funds along with how much they received by going to our website and looking under our nonprofit spending dashboard.

Our audit of the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund showed over 60% of GCRF funds awarded by the Legislature went to projects without the recommendation of the GCRF Advisory Board. GCRF funds should go to projects that are well-designed and meet a vital need. The funds shouldn't be used as a personal piggy bank for politicians' pet projects.

The Mississippi Office of the State Auditor is proud to announce that we recently donated one hundred laptops to the Mississippi National Guard. We’re proud to support the men and women who dedicate themselves to fighting for our country. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Audit Shows Majority of Gulf Coast Restoration Funds Spent by Legislature Without Recommendation from GCRF Advisory Board or MDA JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor @ShadWhite released an audit of the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund (GCRF) showing 62% of GCRF funds awarded by the Legislature went to projects without the recommendation of the GCRF Advisory Board or the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA). “This money paid to Mississippi as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is critical for the future of the coast,” said State Auditor White. “These projects should be high-impact and have clear performance metrics attached. My concern is that, under the legislature’s current method for selecting projects, politicians may fund projects that don’t meet those criteria.” The GCRF was created to help Mississippi’s coastal communities recover after the 2010 BP oil spill—the largest in US history. The spill released over 205 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of America. The MDA, working with the GCRF Advisory Board, administers GCRF funds. This means they receive recommendations from the community about how to spend the money and recommend to the Legislature worthwhile projects that have performance metrics, timelines, and proof of required matching funds. “While MDA can recommend certain projects be funded, the Legislature still has the legal power to ignore their recommendations and spend money on what they want,” said White. “I worry that, in the future, projects may be funded just because a politician likes the project, not because the project is well-designed and meets a vital need.” Mississippi began receiving BP settlement funds for the GCRF in 2018. From 2018 to 2033, the Fund will receive over half a billion dollars to be spent on projects intended to boost the coast’s economy. Analysts at the State Auditor’s Office also compiled the full list of projects funded with GCRF dollars thus far, which can be found in the appendix on the GCRF report. The full report can be found on the Auditor’s website by clicking on the “Reports” tab and searching “Gulf Coast Restoration Fund.”

The State Financial Officers Foundation recognized State Auditor @ShadWhite and our office for our efforts uncovering $400 million in waste across state government. We'll keep doing everything in our power to uncover as much waste as possible.

Auditor's Office Arrests Former Laurel Public Works Director JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor @ShadWhite announced that Special Agents from his office have arrested Luther Russell, former Laurel Public Works Director, for allegedly using heavy equipment owned by the city of Laurel to conduct work on his personal property and for allegedly tampering with evidence relevant to this investigation by ordering employees to disable the GPS tracking device on a city-owned vehicle. “Thank you to the agents in my office who did the hard work in uncovering this scheme,” said State Auditor Shad White. “We will continue to work closely with prosecutors to get record results for taxpayers.” Russell allegedly instructed employees to load the City of Laurel Track Hoe on the City of Laurel Low-Boy trailer and transport them to his property where he then allegedly used them to conduct work on his personal property. The road outside of Russell’s house was damaged by the heavy equipment when it was moved to his property. After being instructed by the county to repair the damaged roadway, Russell allegedly instructed his employees to disable the GPS tracking device on the vehicle to conceal the vehicle’s movement so it could be used to repair the damaged roadway. Russell faces up to $8,000 in fines and 30 years in prison. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s office at any time by clicking the red button on the Auditor's website or calling 1-(800) 321-1275 during normal business hours.

I’m planning to make the Mississippi Auditor’s Office the first state agency in the country to invest in Trump Accounts for the children of our employees. It’s really a no-brainer. These investment accounts give American children money they can use once they turn 18 for things like paying college tuition, buying a first home, or starting a business. Our agency is committed to investing in the future of Mississippi by putting money into Trump Accounts for our employees’ kids. This common-sense proposal would help retain and recruit talented employees to our agency and set up a future generation of Mississippians for success. There have been some questions on whether Mississippi law allows a state agency to invest in Trump Accounts for employees. I have written to the Attorney General asking for a legal opinion on whether our agency can move forward investing in Trump Accounts. My hope is that the Attorney General’s Office will get back to us with an answer quickly so that if there are any legal concerns, the Legislature can address them soon. The Trump Account program launches on July 5th, and we as a state need to make sure that we remove any barriers to supporting this great program. I encourage every parent, business, and others to invest in Trump Accounts.

Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty to Committing COVID Relief Fraud While in Prison justice.gov/usao-sdms/pr/l…

State Financial Officers Foundation Recognizes Auditor White for Uncovering Millions in Waste JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi State Auditor @ShadWhite has been recognized by the State Financial Officers Foundation (@SFOF_States) for identifying over $400 million in waste across state government, as highlighted in SFOF’s inaugural 2025 Oversight Report. “It’s an honor to be named among the State Auditors fighting the rampant fraud, waste, and abuse in government,” said State Auditor Shad White. “From Vice President Vance’s leadership on the anti-fraud task force to state-level officers, fraud now has nowhere to hide.” The SFOF 2025 Oversight Report details achievements from state financial officers. The report recognizes State Auditor Shad White for the “MOGE” report, a compilation of audits showing over $400 million in government waste identified by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor. The 2025 Oversight Report also highlighted Auditor White’s efforts at identifying nonprofits wasting taxpayer money. “Auditor White’s work reflects the vital role of an independent auditor in safeguarding public resources, promoting accountability, and ensuring that every dollar entrusted to government serves its intended purpose,” the Oversight Report said. The SFOF 2025 Oversight Report highlights accomplishments from 40 financial officers from 28 states that oversee more than $3 trillion in state funds. The full report can be found online.

State Auditor @ShadWhite was up in North Mississippi this week! Auditor White met with peanut farmer Brian Atkins and Aberdeen Mayor Dwight Stevens who showed off the Aberdeen Port. The Auditor then met with Sheriff Kevin Crook and his team and discussed ways the Auditor’s Office could assist local law enforcement.

ICYMI: State Auditor @ShadWhite released a report showing that Mississippi has the second highest car tag fees in the country. Listen to the interview below to see what the state can do to reduce car tag fees on Mississippians.

Report: MDE Fails to Report if Afterschool Programs are Working JACKSON, Miss. – Millions in federal grant funds continue to flow from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) to nonprofits and school districts to operate afterschool programs for children, even as MDE has failed to publish federally mandated evaluations for years according to a new analysis from the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor. “As we have seen on the news in Minnesota and here at home during the welfare scandal, making sure that these taxpayer funds are monitored is critical,” said Auditor White. “We will continue to highlight any weaknesses we see in the programs providing money for afterschool or childcare centers.” In fiscal year 2024, the nonprofits and school districts analyzed in this report spent over $11 million of Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) grant funds to provide afterschool care to students. MDE requires subgrantees to collect and submit performance data. MDE is then required to use those for an annual statewide program evaluation. MDE has failed to publish this required report to the federal government since November 2022. Analysts at the State Auditor’s Office emphasized other findings, too. For instance: • Subgrantees may have violated state and federal regulations by engaging external evaluators who were not independent. One grantee hired an individual who worked for the nonprofit arm of the organization being evaluated, causing a potential conflict of interest. • Moreover, attendance data for the centers grouped participant attendance in multi-day and multi-hour increments. This means that a student who showed up one day or only a handful of hours each month would be included in the same “attendance bucket” as someone with perfect attendance. This report is the second in a series of reports focusing on taxpayer-funded childcare programs in Mississippi. The full report can be found on the Auditor’s website by clicking on the “Reports” tab and searching “afterschool.”

ICYMI: State Auditor @ShadWhite made making illegal immigration a state crime a key part of his 2026 legislative agenda. Following Auditor White’s announcement, the State Senate has finally passed a bill making illegal immigration a state crime after years of killing the bill. Our office found that illegal immigration costs taxpayers up to $100 million every year. This legislation will help crack down on illegal immigration and get these tax dollars going to benefit Mississippians instead of illegal immigrants.

The Mississippi Office of the State Auditor is proud to announce that we've recovered $93,881.03 of your money and returned it to taxpayers in the month of January.

When we began looking into waste in non-profits that receive taxpayer money, we made an alarming discovery: no one in state government could determine the total amount of taxpayer money going to non-profits—or even produce a list of the nonprofits receiving the money. Our mission has always been to do whatever we can to make state government as transparent as possible. That's why we took it upon ourselves to create a non-profit database on our website. Any Mississippian can go to the Non-Profit Spending Dashboard and find every non-profit that has received government funds since 2021. Some state agencies request millions of dollars from the taxpayers for website changes. The Mississippi Office of the State Auditor has demonstrated that we can provide new services to the taxpayers with no additional funding requests.

$75 Million recovered. 747 cases investigated. $115 Million demanded. And we're not slowing down.