White urges AG to pursue recovery of welfare funds after court ruling
JACKSON, Miss. — State Auditor Shad White issued a statement on the Mississippi Supreme Court ruling in the Fitch v. White case, saying the decision gives Attorney General Lynn Fitch sole authority to file suit to recover misspent taxpayer money.
“Now that the court has ruled that Lynn Fitch has the sole authority to file suit to get misspent taxpayer money back, I can only assume the Attorney General will now change course and begin to aggressively fight in court for the recovery of all the welfare money,” White said. “Maybe she will fight as hard to do that as she fought to stop me from recovering the money. Mississippi taxpayers deserve nothing less.”
Attorney General Lynn Fitch is the state’s chief legal officer. State auditors, including White, conduct audits of state agencies and programs and sometimes seek recovery of funds they determine were misspent.
The ruling could determine which state official has primary authority to pursue legal remedies to recover public funds. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
