WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: $65,000 worth of county equipment missing in Hinds County

$65,000 worth of county equipment missing in Hinds County

By Marsha Thompson - bio | email

HINDS COUNTY, MS (WLBT) - Hinds County supervisors are conducting an investigation into missing equipment.

A truck, a 40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun, a refrigerator, computer equipment, several chain saws, calculators and 18 pagers can't be accounted for. They equal tens of thousands of dollars in missing, lost or stolen equipment.

All are among nearly $65,000 worth of Hinds County government property that has disappeared during the last two years. An internal audit outlines each piece of equipment. That's according to inventories completed by the county last month.

When asked whether he thought the equipment was lost or stolen, Board of Supervisors President Robert Graham responded, "Well, we don't know. We do know one things, it's not here."

Graham says that the amount is significant even though the county claims more than 12,000 items valued at nearly $124 million in assets, all paid for with taxpayer dollars. Graham is demanding internal accountability.

"Some of the items were reported missing, some were reported lost, some reported stolen. And if we have evidence that some of the items were stolen or taken then we will take the appropriate disciplinary action as a result of an investigation that we are conducting now," said Graham.

The audit listed an air compressor worth $1,400 as lost.

"How do you lose an air compressor? That's what we want to find out. That's what we're going to find out," said Graham.

Monday morning some of the items were accounted for - a ladder, chain saw, even a broken refrigerator that was salvaged but not reported by managers at the Youth Detention Center. Graham said the entire tracking system is under review. The latest change will require quarterly inventory checks.

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