State Auditor Shad White has announced that Brittney Phillips, a former clerk at the Rankin County Tax Collector’s Office, has pleaded guilty to embezzlement. Phillips was arrested in November of 2023.
Phillips is guilty of embezzling cash from the Rankin County Tax Collector’s Office by not registering car tags and taking the cash payments. Phillips was served with a $36,583.47 demand at the time of her arrest.
“I’m grateful for the work of the Rankin County Tax Collector for turning this case over, the investigators, and the prosecutors who worked together to bring this case to a close,” said State Auditor Shad White. “By working together with other offices, my team has recovered more money for the taxpayers in the last five years than any other five-year period.”
Phillips was prosecuted by the Rankin County District Attorney’s Office and was sentenced to 10 years, six years suspended, four years to serve and five years of supervised probation.
A $50,000 surety bond covered Phillips’ employment at the Rankin County Tax Collector’s Office. Surety bonds are similar to insurance designed to protect taxpayers from corruption.
