Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press

In this Sept. 17, 2018 file photo, Pelicia Hall, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner. speaks before a meeting of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee Fiscal Year 2020 hearing in Jackson, Miss.

Former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall and her administration mishandled thousands of dollars in public funds, according to a report the state auditor’s office released on Thursday.

The 31-page compliance report was requested by current MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain and Gov. Tate Reeves, who has publicly alluded to prior corruption within the agency. It audits MDOC for the period of July 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2019, revealing hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in illegal comp time buyouts and thousands of dollars spent in improper travel reimbursements.

The report also shows previous MDOC leadership spent thousands to upgrade the executive suite as well as thousands of dollars in purchases of massage chairs, rugs, art and Himalayan salt lamps for meditation rooms at MDOC facilities.

“One of the most disconcerting things is that a lot of the misspending seems to stem from decisions that were made at the top of MDOC under the previous commissioner, and a lot of the spending seems to have benefitted people at the top at MDOC,” State Auditor Shad White said in a teleconference Thursday. “So, that’s one of the first things we noticed when we were doing this audit.”

When the auditor’s office questioned agency personnel, it was revealed that, under previous leadership, MDOC “accidentally destroyed records,” ultimately “destroying evidence” that would have otherwise been accessed for the audit, according to the report.

“Additionally, the agency was unable to provide some records to the auditors when requested due to the agency destroying audit documentation and public records,” the report said. “Inquiry with agency personnel revealed that the agency accidently (sic) destroyed records relating to procurement cards, purchasing, cash receipts, and other vital financial processes during the move from one physical office space to another. 

“Personnel stated that some records were marked for destruction and should have been moved to a truck housing items that were to be “burned” or destroyed,” the report continued. “However, agency personnel mistakenly moved public records and vital accounting records to the “burn” truck; thereby destroying evidence of many purchases, approvals, and audit evidence.”

“That’s one of the more troubling findings because what you see in the audit is what we were able to uncover, right. But if we know that records have been burned, we don’t know what else happened at the agency,” White said in Thursday’s teleconference.

The report said former MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall was paid an illegal buyout of $109,446, and the former Deputy Commissioner of Institutions Jerry Williams was paid $240,497 in buyouts, including one payment of $160,000 in July 2017.

Current MDOC Parole Board Member Betty Lou Jones was also found to have received $47,321 in travel reimbursements, a matter that has been turned over to the investigative division of the Office of the State Auditor for possible civil demand, the report said.

Hall and Williams both left their posts as heads of the department in January 2020 and are currently receiving pensions from the state of Mississippi, which have been “artificially inflated” due to the illegal buyouts detailed in the audit report.

“We have forwarded this audit over to (the investigative division), and now they’re going to begin their side of the work to see if anything in here is criminal,” White said in the teleconference. “Yes, it is possible that some stuff in here is criminal. That is going to be a decision that we’re going to have to make through the investigative division as we look closer at evidence of intent.”

The audit report also investigated MDOC’s contract with commissary services company Premier Supply Link, LLC, revealing that the department had given the company the financial authority over restitution funds, resulting in one restitution center prisoner who earned $1,345.20 in excess of what was required while being a part of a restitution center.

In January 2020, Mississippi Today published the results of a 14-month investigation in collaboration with The Marshall Project which found inmates in Mississippi’s little-known restitution centers must work grueling low-wage jobs to pay off court-ordered debts. The investigation also revealed that the state fails to keep accurate records on who is in the program at any given time, how many people judges send there each year or how long inmates stay.

READ MORE: How we investigated Mississippi’s restitution centers.

“Incarcerated people are sometimes held at restitution centers while they work to pay back money they owe as a result of judgments against them. Inmates should have been informed when they worked enough to fully repay what they owe, but the audit revealed MDOC was not verifying the amounts that inmates had paid so the inmate could cease work,” White said in Thursday’s teleconference.

White also said his office has begun an investigation into MDOC and Management & Training Corporation, which operates three prisons in the state. A recent investigation revealed that MTC routinely failed to fill scores of correctional officer positions required by contract. These “ghost workers” make prisons more dangerous and produce more profits for MTC—at least $8 million, according to an analysis by The Marshall Project.

“Based on some of the facts we saw in your report, we are investigating,” White said Thursday.

In a five-page response, Cain, current MDOC commissioner who was appointed to the position by Reeves in May, said the department concurred with or acknowledged all the audit report’s findings. 

“MDOC has worked tirelessly since February to address and has already corrected many of the findings stated in your report. MDOC has established its new vision as an honorable, innovative and fiscally responsible professional organization,” Cain wrote in his response.

View the full compliance report here.

The post ‘Widespread fraud, waste, and abuse’: Previous Mississippi Department of Corrections leadership misspent thousands of public funds appeared first on Mississippi Today.

COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 2,261 new cases

By Alex Rozier and Erica Hensley | December 17, 2020

We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Thursday, December 17:

New cases: 2,261| New Deaths: 26

Total Hospitalizations: 1,316

Total cases: 187,904| Total Deaths: 4,320

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. Since then, he has added a total of 61 individual county mask mandates, covering half of the state. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Wednesday, December 16

On Tuesday Mississippi hit a new record with the seven-day average for cases, reaching 2,196. After going nine months without reporting 2,000 cases in a day, the state has reached that point nine times in just the 16 days of December so far. 

On Dec. 9, Mississippi also hit a new high for total hospitalizations on the rolling average, surpassing the summer peak. The state had already reached a new high for confirmed hospitalizations at the end of November, but hadn’t yet for the total tally, which includes suspected cases as well.

As seen in MSDH’s illness onset chart, the record for most illnesses in a day — Dec. 11, with 2,442 — is within the last two-week period, meaning those numbers could still go up.  

Mississippi’s present rise in cases mirrors the national surge, as the state currently has the 26th most new cases per capita. According to the Harvard Global Health Institute tracker, every state except Vermont is now in the “red zone” (recording over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 people). 

The health department reports that 148,466 people are presumed covered as of Dec. 13.

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

The post COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 2,261 new cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Whether any member of Mississippi’s congressional delegation will participate in a challenge of the election of Joe Biden as president when the U.S. House and Senate meet jointly on Jan. 6 is not clear.

Federal law gives House and Senate members the opportunity to challenge results of a presidential election on that date.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., arrives at the Senate Chamber at the Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Some members of the delegation, such as Sen. Roger Wicker of Tupelo, the senior Republican member of the delegation, said after Monday’s vote of the electoral college affirming the Biden win that they reluctantly accept the results of the election.

But U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo of the 4^th District, which encompasses much of south Mississippi, did not rule out participating in a challenge to the election, according to a statement he gave the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo.

UNITED STATES – MARCH 7: Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., walks up the House steps for final votes of the week in the Capitol on March 8, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

“I do acknowledge the electoral college’s decision, and I also acknowledge the responsibility of Congress to certify the election results on Jan. 6,” Palazzo said. “In the coming weeks, I will continue evaluating the evidence presented by President Trump’s legal team and make a final decision on verifying the election results closer to Jan. 6.”

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, whom Trump campaigned extensively for when she first won election to the post in 2018, has not commented since the electoral college vote. At one point, she was fund-raising on social media to help with Trump’s multiple, though unsuccessful, legal challenges.

Wicker voiced support soon after the Nov. 3 election for Trump’s efforts to look for instances of voter fraud, but has remain quiet since then.

In a statement on Wednesday, Wicker told Mississippi Today, “The electoral college vote makes it clear that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. I am obviously disappointed in the outcome, and I know many Mississippians feel the same way. Nevertheless, we must respect the constitutional process and move on.”

Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America

U.S. Rep. Michael Guest

Rep. Michael Guest, who lives in Rankin County, said in a statement to Mississippi Today: “The electoral college has cast the final and deciding vote for Joe Biden. My prayers are with him as he prepares to assume the office of president of the United States.”

And Rep. Trent Kelly, who lives in Lee County and represents portions of north Mississippi told the Daily Journal in Tupelo: “It appears that Joe Biden is the president-elect. I have done exactly what I said I would do. I have supported President Trump and followed every possible legal remedy to ensure the election results are valid. At this time, there does not appear to be a viable and legal remedy left to pursue.

U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly

“Elections and the electoral college, as well as states’ right to certify the electorate, are an integral part of all our elections dating back to our founders. Although I do not like the results of the current election, the courts and the states have spoken. Unless there is an unforeseen, valid legal challenge, I intend to support the results of the electoral college.”

On Jan. 6, if both a senator and House member jointly agree to challenge the electoral votes from any states, then the two chambers separately debate the issue. But for the challenge to prevail, both chambers must approve it by a majority vote. With the Democrats maintaining a slim majority in the House, there does not appear to be an avenue for a successful challenge for the president.

Various Republican senators also have said they would not vote in support of a challenge that would have to invalidate the ballots in multiple states to be successful.

In addition, media reports have surfaced that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who like Wicker acknowledged Biden as the president-elect this week, has asked his caucus members not to participate in a challenge that would be unsuccessful and place his members in the position of having to make a difficult vote.

Trump and his allies have filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the election results. Those lawsuits have been rejected by judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, including judges appointed by Trump.

Kelly, Guest and Palazzo filed friend of the court briefs in support of the effort of Republican state attorneys general, including Lynn Fitch of Mississippi, to invalidate the results in four swing states won by Biden, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

That lawsuit was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The post State’s congressional delegation, though not all, beginning to recognize Biden victory appeared first on Mississippi Today.

READ: Gov. Tate Reeves, after criticism over COVID-19 response, turns to public for vaccine advice

The post Marshall Ramsey: Vaccination appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Rogelio V. Solis, AP

The Chapel, one of the iconic buildings at Alcorn State University in Lorman.

Alcorn State University received the largest gift from a single donor in its history.

The post The world’s richest woman doubled Alcorn’s endowment with $25 million donation appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Association of School Administrators.

Ronnie McGehee, executive director of the Mississippi Association of School Administrators.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann announced Wednesday his appointment of Ronnie McGehee, former superintendent of Madison County School District, to the State Board of Education.

McGehee, who has more than 40 years of experience in education, will serve an eight-year term pending confirmation by the Mississippi Senate.

He is currently the executive director of the Mississippi Association of School Administrators and Mississippi Association of Secondary School Principals. While superintendent in Madison County, the district achieved and maintained an “A” rating and transitioned to one-to-one technology, meaning each student was equipped with their own device.

Prior to serving as superintendent he taught and coached in both public and private schools.

“My parents were not formally educated, but they always instilled in me and my brothers the determination to achieve the best education possible, and then go out and help others do the same,” said McGehee. “I am looking forward to working with the Lieutenant Governor, the legislature and others to continue working toward that goal.”

Hosemann said quality education is the key to a successful future for Mississippi.

“Dr. McGehee will do an excellent job in this position because he has vast experience in the field, he has the trust of our public educators across the state, and he has the heart to do the hard things we have to do to help our students and schools achieve,” said Hosemann in a press release announcing the appointment.

The Board oversees the Mississippi Department of Education and meets monthly to discuss policy and adopt rules for the state’s public schools.

The nine-member board is appointed by state officials. The governor appoints five positions: one school administrator, one teacher, and one individual from the state’s North, Central, South Supreme Court districts, respectively. The lieutenant governor and speaker each get two at-large representatives, meaning they have no residential or occupational requirements on who to choose. The board appoints the state superintendent, who serves as the board secretary, and two student representatives who also serve on the board as non-voting members. Members serve nine-year terms.

There are currently several vacancies on the board, including the speaker’s at-large appointment (formerly Sean Suggs) and the teacher representative, appointed by the governor, is also vacant.

The term of John Kelly, who fills the Southern Supreme  Court District spot, expired in July, though he has continued to serve on the board.

The post Former Madison Co. superintendent appointed to State Board of Education appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Rogelio V. Solis/AP photo

Joe Moorhead’s buyout was between $4 million and $7 million, depending on what he’s making at Oregon.

Ralph “Shug” Jordan famously coached football at Auburn for 25 years, winning 67.5% of his games, including 60% of his SEC games. The nearly 90,000-seat Auburn football stadium bears his name. A statue of Jordan has been commissioned.

Gus Malzahn, Auburn’s most recent football coach, won 66% of the games he coached, 59.1% of his SEC games, nearly mirroring Jordan’s win percentages. For Malzahn, there will be no statue and certainly no renaming of the stadium. No, he has been fired.

Rick Cleveland

And get this: Auburn must now pay Malzahn $21.4 million not to coach. That’s right, Auburn must pay Malzahn more than $10 million in the next 30 days, and then $2.68 million a year for the next four years. For that king’s ransom, Malzahn must do exactly nothing.

Malzahn just completed the third year of a seven-year contract that called for him to make $49 million. Keep in mind, we are in middle of a pandemic that has affected college sports, just as it has every facet of our society. Across the country, colleges and universities are cutting sports and scholarships. Athletic departments, even entire conferences, are taking out loans to stay in business.

And, amid all this, Auburn is going to pay a guy more than 21 million semolians not to coach.

This is just one more sign of the times — albeit, a gigantic marquee — in big-time college sports. Everywhere you look, schools are paying coaches not to coach. In fact, Arkansas is paying two. Chad Morris was bought out for $10 million, two years after Bret Bielema was bought out for $11.9 million.

What was it Sen. Everitt Dirksen once said? “A billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you’re talking about real money…”

Dirksen was talking about government waste. The government has nothing on college sports, especially since the government prints money and the universities don’t. At South Carolina, the Gamecocks’ buyout of recently fired Will Muschamp is just north of $13 million. Muschamp is good at this. Before that, he got $6.1 million from Florida — not to coach.

Tennessee reportedly paid Butch Jones, recently hired at Arkansas State, approximately $8 million not to coach. Texas A&M bought out Kevin Sumlin reportedly for $10 million. LSU negotiated out of its contract with Les Miles for a paltry $1.5 million. But — and, boy, this is a big BUT — LSU would have to pay Ed Orgeron $27 million if it fired him this year.

Last year, Ole Miss bought out Matt Luke and Mississippi State bought out Joe Moorhead. Compared to the likes of Auburn and Arkansas, the Mississippi schools got off cheaply. Luke’s buyout was reportedly $6 million. Moorhead’s was between $4 million and $7 million, depending on what he’s making at Oregon. Still, in Mississippi, that’s real money.

There are reports that the Rebels’ Lane Kiffin is among the people Auburn considering as a replacement for Malzahn. Kiffin reportedly makes $3.9 million at Ole Miss. And we must wonder if Auburn is willing to pay someone over $5 million a year not to coach, what would they pay someone to really coach? The Rebels might not like the answer.

But let’s get back to Auburn and Malzahn. You might ask — and it would be a good question — how Auburn got into a situation where it would have to pay a football coach $21.45 million not to coach. Here’s the short version: In 2017, Malzahn led Auburn to 10 victories and the SEC West Championship. In one three-week stretch, the Tigers defeated Alabama and Georgia, both ranked No. 1 at the time.

At the same time, Arkansas was about to fire Bielema and hire a new coach. Malzahn, who had played and coached at Arkansas and had been a highly successful high school coach in Arkansas, was reportedly No. 1 on the Razorbacks’ list. So Auburn renegotiated its contract with Malzahn to keep him. The new contract called for $49 million over seven years. Real money.

And now let’s get back to Shug Jordan. Remember him? The most Jordan ever made at Auburn was $42,500, and that was at the end of his career in 1975. That computes to $203,000 today when coaches make ten times that — and even more — and they don’t even have to blow a whistle, much less call a play.

The post In today’s $EC, it pays well — not to coach appeared first on Mississippi Today.

COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 2,343 new cases

By Alex Rozier and Erica Hensley | December 16, 2020

We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Wednesday, December 16:

New cases: 2,343| New Deaths: 42

Total Hospitalizations: 1,319

Total cases: 185,643| Total Deaths: 4,294

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. Since then, he has added a total of 61 individual county mask mandates, covering half of the state. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Wednesday, December 16

On Tuesday Mississippi hit a new record with the seven-day average for cases, reaching 2,196. After going nine months without reporting 2,000 cases in a day, the state has reached that point nine times in just the 16 days of December so far. 

On Dec. 9, Mississippi also hit a new high for total hospitalizations on the rolling average, surpassing the summer peak. The state had already reached a new high for confirmed hospitalizations at the end of November, but hadn’t yet for the total tally, which includes suspected cases as well.

As seen in MSDH’s illness onset chart, the record for most illnesses in a day — Dec. 11, with 2,442 — is within the last two-week period, meaning those numbers could still go up.  

Mississippi’s present rise in cases mirrors the national surge, as the state currently has the 26th most new cases per capita. According to the Harvard Global Health Institute tracker, every state except Vermont is now in the “red zone” (recording over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 people). 

The health department reports that 148,466 people are presumed covered as of Dec. 13.

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

The post COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 2,343 new cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: 2020 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, right, listens as Gov. Tate Reeves discusses updated COVID-19 orders on Dec. 11. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Gov. Tate Reeves, who has received broad public criticism in recent weeks over his COVID-19 response, asked his followers on social media to help him decide when he should get the vaccine.

“Interesting debate… I get endless posts from skeptics like ‘If you want us to take the vaccine, why won’t you take it?’” Reeves tweeted and posted on Facebook Tuesday morning. “I’m ready — but don’t want to be accused of cutting in line. What do you think is the better action by leaders? Show confidence or let others get access first?”

Interesting debate… I get endless posts from skeptics like “If you want us to take the vaccine, why won’t you take it?”

I’m ready—but don’t want to be accused of cutting in line. What do you think is the better action by leaders? Show confidence or let others get access first?

— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) December 15, 2020

The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in the state this week, and many leaders have volunteered to publicly take the vaccine to quell any doubts about the effectiveness or perceived dangers among Americans.

READ MORE: The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines has arrived in Mississippi. What’s next?

While many people — including in Mississippi — doubt whether the vaccine is safe or effective, health experts and scientists have reiterated the vaccine is safe and has been subjected to comprehensive trials.

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the top health official in Mississippi, became the first person in the state to take a vaccine on Monday. He and two other top Mississippi State Department of Health officials were inoculated in a public press conference.

COVID-19 spread continues to set new peaks both nationally and statewide. Health officials have warned that ICU capacity in Mississippi is “full and many hospitalizations on the way.”

Reeves, who is solely responsible for issuing statewide orders like mask mandates and crowd size limits, has received criticism in recent days for appearing at fundraisers and hosting Christmas parties, despite those events seemingly violating many of his own orders.

READ MORE: Partying in the pandemic: Gov. Reeves says mansion parties will adhere to COVID-19 orders.

Meanwhile, Dobbs and the health department have warned Mississippians to avoid holiday gatherings beyond closest family and to avoid any groups beyond school, work or “essential gatherings.”

Dobbs called the holidays a “perfect storm” for “explosive outbreaks” of COVID-19 and warned, “We will see deaths, absolutely, around holiday gatherings.” Health officials warn that Mississippi hospitals are overloaded with patients as pandemic cases spike to record levels.

In response, Reeves has said that his parties “allow us to send a message to the people of Mississippi that you can return to life as somewhat normal, but you’ve got to do it in a way that minimizes risk.”

READ MORE: Photos show Gov. Tate Reeves partygoers not adhering to his COVID-19 orders.

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