Our thanks to MS State Auditor Shad White for providing our
program on Tuesday. Mr. White is pictured here with Hattiesburg
Club President, Jamey Mitchell.
President Jamey Mitchell presided over today’s meeting. Garland Sullivan gave today’s invocation and Steve Utroska led the Pledge of Allegiance. Wes Brooks and Mallory Donald served as our greeters.
Ben Donald has Juan Benitos as his guest, and Mike McPhail’s guest was Cole Gressett. Cole has already filled out an application. Alton Pierce is a guest of James Mitchell and our visiting Rotarians are Keith Horne who brought along his wife Carolyn and AD Hunt from the Sunrise Rotary Club.
Allen Anderson introduced today’s guest speaker, Shad White. After graduating from the University of Mississippi, White was a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford in England. He later earned a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School. He grew up in Jones County and currently resides in Rankin County.
White is an attorney and who had never held public office prior to being appointed MS State Auditor. He has been involved in politics most notably as manager of Phil Bryant’s campaign for a second term as Governor of Mississippi.
White, age 32, will fill the rest of a four-year State Auditor term that ends in January 2020. Gov. Phil Bryant announced July 6 that he had chosen White to succeed fellow Republican Stacey Pickering, who had been auditor since January 2008. The Office of State Auditor is one of eight statewide elected positions in Mississippi government.
The Department of Audit, which employs some 150 people, including approximately 40 Certified Public Accountants, comprises one of the largest auditing firms in the state. The office is widely regarded as the definitive authority in matters pertaining to the use of public funds.
The mission of the Office of the State Auditor is to serve its customers and protect the public's trust by independently assessing state and local governmental and other entities to ensure that public funds are properly received, are legally, effectively, and efficiently spent and are accounted for and reported accurately.
There are five Audit Divisions
- The Financial and Compliance Audit Division (the largest division in the agency) is divided into five sections: Contract Audit Review, State Agency Audit Section, County Audit Section, Information Technology (IT) Audit Section and Report Processing Section. This division is responsible for conducting and overseeing audits of public entities.
- The Investigative Division is responsible for the investigation of alleged or suspected violations of Mississippi law, including fraud and embezzlement by public officials related to the purchase, sale or use of any supplies, services, equipment or other public property.
- The Performance Audit Division conducts programmatic and performance audits and reviews to evaluate selected operations of government, making recommendations aimed at enhancing efficiency, effectiveness and economy.
- The Property Division is responsible for maintaining a master inventory of fixed assets for state agencies and universities. It also conducts fixed asset audits for these public entities and for county governments as well.
- The Technical Assistance Division is responsible for providing accounting and compliance assistance to state and local governments. It also conducts related training and is responsible for the design of uniform accounting systems for local governments.
Remember, the mission of the Office of the State Auditor is to verify that the funds you provide to your state and local governments are being used in a legal and efficient manner and for their intended purpose. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact their office.
Toll Free: (800) 321-1275 http://www.osa.state.ms.us
With no other business to discuss, Mitchell adjourned the meeting with our motto, “Service Above Self.”