Mississippi State Auditor working with lawmakers to expand Open Meetings Act. See why

When it comes to pushing for new laws during this year’s legislative session, State Auditor Shad White is still hoping the Legislature will consider his proposal to expand open meeting laws, as well as a few other items.

White told the Clarion Ledger he thinks lawmakers should take a long hard look at the Open Meetings Act, which dictates when and how public bodies in the state are supposed to meet, as well as how they are defined.

White first became aware of an issue with Mississippi’s meeting laws in 2018 when representing the Natchez Democrat during a Mississippi Ethics Commission case between the newspaper and the city council, which chose a contract with a garbage company in a closed meeting.

The commission later found the council violated open meeting laws, but it was not required to reverse its decision or to revote in a public setting. Over the years, White has seen several other instances where county and city government boards have taken advantage of this loophole, he said.

“I stumbled upon this when I was a baby lawyer before I ever became state auditor,” White said. “We do care in the auditor's office that taxpayer money is spent in the way that the law requires, even if the Open Meetings Act violations wouldn't get reported to us. To me, advocating for strengthening these law means that we're less likely to see cases in the auditor's office in the long run. I think transparency is a powerful disinfectant.”

White is now working with Republican Rep. Lester Carpenter of Alcorn County to draft the bill that will essentially change the state’s law to require that if any public body is found to have made decisions during an illegal meeting, whatever the body did would be void unless voted on in public.

Despite the push for expanding the open meeting laws, White declined to comment on the Mississippi House of Representative’s Republican Caucus’ closed meetings, which have in the past featured policy debates made by the Republican majority without it’s Democratic colleagues to weigh in on or the public to hear.

House Republicans currently account for 79 of the 122-member chamber.

In 2022, the Mississippi Free Press filed a complaint against the House with the Mississippi Ethics Commission for denying one of its reporters access to several caucus meetings in the capitol. Ethics commission Director Tom Hood recommended the commission to determine the House is a “public body” as defined in law and require the caucus meetings to be open.

However, the ethics commission ruled House Republican Caucus meetings were not public meetings under the law.

On Jan. 17, House Speaker Jason White called for the session’s first closed door caucus meeting.

Shad White, a Republican, won his second full term in November after being appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant in 2018 and elected for the first time in 2019.

In his first five years in office White and his office helped recover more than $70 million through fraud investigations. He also has touted his office's investigation into the Mississippi welfare scandal, the largest public corruption scheme in state history.

White also recently filed a countersuit against famous football player Brett Favre for funds related to the scandal. Favre sued White for defamation in 2023 for statements made on social media.

More on Favre defamation suit See why the MS Auditor is demanding Brett Favre repay $729,790 in countersuit

Looking closer at open record laws

As the new four-year term for legislators and statewide officials begins, White also believes the Legislature should evaluate certain aspects of open meetings and record laws.

“If you're going to reform or strengthen any of these ethics statutes, this is the year to do it right here because they have to come up for reauthorization if I'm not mistaken,” White said. “I think it's worth taking a look at the Public Records Act and thinking, ‘OK, how can we strengthen this?’ One thing that I've always talked about is making sure that people understand there are real consequences for violating the open meetings or the public records act. So that is always something I think you could look at.”

Open record laws for the state can be revised and renewed every term, which lasts four years, White said.

Whistleblowers

Of White’s several legislative agenda items, the only bill to have been filed by Tuesday morning was one focused on establishing rewards for whistle blowers. The bill was filed by Rep. Kevin Ford, R, who serves Issaquena, Warren and Yazoo counties.

Under the proposed statute, private citizens will be able to come forward with information about corruption or theft of taxpayer funds, and if their information leads to an arrest and recovery, the private citizen will receive a portion of what has been recovered.

The law will use recovery amounts similar to the federal False Claims Act provisions on whistleblower rewards. Definitions of key terms will be written in a way similar to SEC regulations for their whistleblower reward program. Certain people, like elected officials, will not be eligible for receiving the whistleblower reward

“This could really be a game changer for us in our fight against public corruption,” White said.

How to file a complaint: The Open Meetings Complaint Form

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS Auditor, MS Legislature 2024 work on open meeting laws