Auditor, Office of the State

The Office of the State Auditor is responsible for financial reporting of most public entities within the state. This entails audit, review, recording, receipt, or investigative responsibility for more than 1,000 agencies. The State Auditor of Mississippi presents an annual report of accomplishments and goals each fiscal year (July–June). The Department of Archives and History has electronic (PDF) reports from 1997.

The Audit Exceptions Report is a legally mandated account of misappropriated or misspent public funds and the actions taken by the Office of the State Auditor for their recovery and return to Mississippi's public treasuries. The report covers the specific exceptions taken by the Office of the State Auditor during each fiscal year (July-June), as required by Sections 7-7-77, 7-7-79, 7-7-217 and 7-7-219, Mississippi Code Annotated (1972). The Department of Archives and History has electronic (PDF) reports from 2004.

The records in this series document the military service and post-war quality of life of thousands of former Confederate soldiers and sailors and their widows and wartime servants residing in Mississippi. The applications and supporting documentation (if any) are organized in alphabetical order by name of applicant. Forms include information on the names and locations of applicants, as well as the dates of applications. People filed for pensions in the state in which they resided at the time, not necessarily the state in which enlistment occurred.

The series consists of state auditor's copies of annual rolls of Confederate veterans, widows of Confederate veterans, and former servants of Confederate veterans receiving a state pension. Arrangement is chronological by county, name of individual, and category of pension. The 1889-1895 rolls also include the post office of the individual, when the pension began, and the amount of the pension. Rolls may include notes about deaths, remarriages, and moves from/to the county or the state. These rolls were compiled from reports prepared by the counties (Series 355: County Confederate Pension Reports and Correspondence) based on the approved applications (Series 1201: Confederate Pension Applications).

In 1888, Mississippi began providing pensions for certain disabled Confederate soldiers and sailors, disabled servants of officers, soldiers, and sailors, and widows of soldiers or sailors who died in service. The requirement for a pension for "indigent" Confederate soldiers, sailors, widows, and servants was incorporated into the 1890 Constitution of the State of Mississippi (Sec. 272). Over the years, the requirements for and the amounts of pensions were modified by state law until the law was repealed in 1992.

Persons meeting the requirements had to file applications with their county board of inquiry (later county pension board), consisting of nominees by the board of supervisors, sheriff, and clerk of the chancery court. This board approved or disapproved the applications and forwarded them to the state auditor where they also went through an approval process. Copies of the applications and the subsequent annual reports of the county boards were to be kept on file at both the county chancery clerk's office and the state auditor's office.

Images of the state auditor's copies of the pension rolls were created by FamilySearch onsite at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 2011.

Series 355 consists of copies of annual reports submitted by the counties to the State Auditor for the annual roll of Confederate veterans, widows of Confederate veterans, and former servants of Confederate veterans receiving a state pension. Each report includes the name of the individual and the type of pension received. The reports may include notes on deaths, remarriages, and moves from/to the county or the state. The files also include the county pension commissioners' oaths of office and state auditors' related correspondence.

In 1888 Mississippi began providing pensions for disabled Confederate soldiers and sailors, their disabled servants, and widows of soldiers or sailors who died in service. The requirement for a pension for "indigent" Confederate soldiers, sailors, widows, and servants was incorporated into the 1890 Constitution of the State of Mississippi (Sec. 272). The requirements for and the amounts of pensions were modified by state law repeatedly until the law was repealed in 1992.

Persons meeting the requirements had to file applications with their county board of inquiry (later county pension board), consisting of nominees by the board of supervisors, sheriff, and clerk of the chancery court. This board approved or disapproved the applications and forwarded them to the state auditor where they also went through an approval process. Copies of the applications and the subsequent annual reports of the county boards were to be kept on file at both the county chancery clerk's office and the state auditor's office.

Images of the pension records were created by FamilySearch onsite at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 2011 and are arranged by county and date.

The series contains records of taxes assessed on personal property and land owned by residents of Mississippi counties. From 1818 until 1841 the personal property and land taxes were recorded in a combined roll. After 1841 the two were split into separate rolls. Types of personal property that were taxable changed several times during the time period covered by these tax rolls and included such categories as slaves, livestock, horses, carriages, musical instruments, watches, jewelry, guns, knives, cash, securities, clocks, bowling alleys, theatres, racetracks, and furniture. The images were created by FamilySearch onsite at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 2011.

This series is comprised of enumeration rolls of Confederate veterans and widows of Confederate veterans. The rolls include the name of the veteran or widow, state and year of enlistment of the veteran, regiment and company in which the veteran served, and the age of the veteran or widow.

In 1906, the Mississippi Legislature began requiring biennial enumeration of Confederate veterans and widows of Confederate veterans (Laws, chapter 138). The initial enumeration began on the first Monday in February 1907 and was to be conducted biennially thereafter. Chancery clerks were to keep a copy of the enumeration and send a copy to the State Auditor. In 1930, the enumeration was changed to an annual basis (Laws, chapter 275, 3412 and 3413). The requirement was repealed in April 2009 (Laws, chapter 546, 24).

Images of the documents were created by FamilySearch onsite at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 2011 and are arranged by county and date.

Section 113 of the Mississippi Constitution states, "The auditor shall, within sixty days after the adjournment of the legislature, prepare and publish a full statement of all money expended at such sessions, specifying the items and amount of each item, and to whom, and for what paid; and he shall also publish the amounts of all appropriations." The compliance report is prepared by the Department of Finance and Administration in accordance with Section 7‐7‐45, Mississippi Code Annotated (1972) and released by the State Auditor. The Department of Archives and History has electronic (PDF) reports from 2004.

The State Auditor has published a comprehensive annual report on the financial condition of most state offices, departments, and agencies since 1986. The auditor's web site has made available portable document format (PDF) copies of reports from 1997 to the present, and electronic and paper copies were transferred to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History for permanent retention. These state government reports are part of the public record and are free of copyright and other use restrictions.

Technicalities is a monthly publication of the Division of Technical Assistance in the Office of the State Auditor. The bulletin, which is emailed to subscribers, communicates information concerning inquiries made to the Office of the State Auditor. Each issue includes a list of a few questions with answers pertaining to general topics, counties, education, and municipalities, as well as training opportunities. The Department of Archives and History has paper bulletins from 2007 to 2013 and electronic (PDF) copies of most newsletter emails from September 2011 through February 2020, when publication was suspended.