Institutions of Higher Learning Commissioner Tom Meredith was not found to be liable for any wrongdoing and attempted on multiple occasions to pay for the work done to his home according to State Auditor Stacey Pickering.
“I am pleased that this incident has concluded and that I have been exonerated by the State Auditor’s Office,” Meredith said in a press release.
Interim MSU President Vance Watson has been found responsible for the unauthorized use of state funds in the landscaping of Meredith’s home in Jackson. Pickering issued a demand to Watson of $12,333 for landscaping work done in March 2007 at Meredith’s home, interest on the worth of the work done and investigative costs of the State Auditor’s office. Pickering announced the findings in a press conference today after the IHL’s regularly scheduled monthly board meeting at the University of Southern Mississippi.
“Dr. Watson, then vice president of agriculture and veterinary science and director of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station, was the official responsible for this project and must reimburse Mississippi State University for the cost of the project,” Pickering said.
Watson was officially served with the demand on Wednesday and the amount demanded has been paid in full according to Pickering. The Office of the State Auditor will now turn the case over to District Attorney Forest Allgood for review by a grand jury.