State Auditor Shad White announced that his office recovered $1,096,510.88 in taxpayer funds and returned them to the appropriate entities in fiscal year 2026, according to the Office of the State Auditor’s annual Audit Exceptions Report.
“Mississippians work hard for their money and they deserve to know every taxpayer dollar is being protected,” White said in the report. He added that staff at the auditor’s office will “continue to serve as the state’s watchdog and uncover waste, fraud, and abuse wherever we find it,” the report says.
The report also highlights large outstanding demands the auditor’s office has issued but cannot enforce in court. The report says the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that only the attorney general’s office can enforce those demands. In connection with the Mississippi Department of Human Services welfare scandal, the auditor’s office has issued demands totaling $96,312,774.27 and referred them to the attorney general for enforcement; the Office of the Attorney General recovered $18,000 of that amount this past year, the report says.
Separately, the auditor’s office has issued demands in 103 cases outside the DHS matter that have not been paid in full, representing an outstanding balance of $15,792,926.25, the report says. The Office of the Attorney General has taken no action in 95 of those 103 cases, according to the report. State law requires the auditor to publish an Exceptions Report in August each year; the 2026 report is organized by county and is available on the auditor’s website under the “Reports” tab, the office said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
