DMR hasn’t been audited by the state in over 10 years
The last state audit of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources came in 2002, the year Bill Walker became the executive director at the agency. Now DMR is the focus of ongoing state and federal investigations.
Before the ongoing investigation began, DMR’s books had been audited four times — 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2002 — after the agency’s creation in 1994. Though the public may have the perception state agencies are required to be audited each year, as all county and city governments, that isn’t true. DMR and other “smaller” state agencies don’t get reviewed every year, while the larger ones like the state departments of transportation, education and others do.
The four audits weren’t all comprehensive. One only looked at federal spending and finances, another involved federal money and two looked at how money was being spent to see if it was in compliance with state protocols and that assets are properly accounted for, among other issues.
State auditors past and present told the Sun Herald the reason smaller agencies aren’t audited as much is because there simply isn’t enough manpower. Rather, the only option is to get to them on a rotation basis and focus on the larger state government agencies. Gov. Phil Bryant, who was auditor from 1996 until 2008, said he believes the agency needs 25 to 30 more auditors.
Sun Herald
3/9/13
