State Auditor’s office releases Hinds County audit

State Auditor Shad White has announced the completion of the 2020 Hinds County Routine Annual Financial Audit.

“Hinds County has a lot of work to do,” said White. “Our typical audits of counties take 7-9 months. This audit took 15 months—perhaps the longest it’s taken to do a county audit in my five years as Auditor. The reason is that Hinds County does not have adequate staff to respond to basic records requests. That slowed the audit process tremendously.”

Hinds County’s audit was started in September of 2022.

“Because there are a small number of qualified staff handling all the finances of Hinds County, the county is not only slow to respond to requests, but it is a walking fraud risk,” said White. “The county needs to add competent staff in order to maintain its books more carefully.”

The Hinds County audit can be found by searching “Hinds County” on the State Auditor’s website under the “Reports” tab.