State Auditor Stacey Pickering found MSU Interim President Vance Watson responsible for the unauthorized use of state funds, personnel and equipment to landscape Institutions of Higher Learning Commissioner Tom Meredith’s Rankin County home.
Pickering sent a demand to Watson Wednesday for reimbursement of $12,333 for the cost of materials, labor and equipment used, along with interest, and the cost of the state auditor’s investigation into allegations against Watson.
In a Thursday press conference at the University of Southern Mississippi, Pickering said Watson, while serving as vice president of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Science and director of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Stations, authorized the work and landscaping done at the Rankin County home of Meredith.
“This includes the use of Mississippi State University personnel, resources and materials purchased with funds from Mississippi State,” Pickering said.
Watson reimbursed the state Wednesday for the amount demanded. Whether any further charges are brought against Watson is up to the district attorney of Oktibbeha County.
“As of today the next action will be to turn this information over to … the District Attorney of Oktibbeha County Forrest Allgood who will decide what steps and actions will be taken,” Pickering said.
The investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of Meredith. According to Pickering, Meredith attempted on multiple occasions to pay for the work that was done at his home.
“Dr. Meredith, in his role as the commissioner of the IHL, did not have the authority to authorize these individuals for the expenditures of these funds. He was simply the recipient of it at the direction of Dr. Vance Watson,” Pickering said.
Meredith, in a statement dispersed after the state auditor’s press conference, said he was pleased that the incident has concluded and will be “exonerated” by the State Auditor’s Office.
The auditor’s report found that seven individuals used MSU trucks and equipment dispatched from the Starkville campus and the MSU Coastal Research Station, which was under Watson’s authority, to perform the work planting about 13 magnolia trees at Meredith’s home on March 22, 2007. The vehicles used were not marked with MSU markings as most university vehicles are. Pickering said he did not know whether the vehicles were intentionally used because they were unmarked or whether that was a coincidence.
Meredith initially asked the Mississippi State Extension Service to come to his home to advise him on how to landscape his yard, a normal service provided by the Extension Service and one provided by county extension agents across the state, according to Pickering.
“What is unusual is when MSU purchased the trees, sent MSU employees from Starkville and the Gulf Coast to Meredith’s home,” Pickering said.
Pickering briefed the IHL Board of Trustees before making the public announcement of Watson’s misuse of state funds.
Board President Amy Whitten spoke briefly after exiting an executive session of the IHL Board of Trustees. Whitten said that the College Board will take the state auditor’s report under advisement and hopes that the MSU presidential search will remain on track and that the Board Search Committee hopes to have a president named by the Nov. 1 deadline.