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State Auditor investigates sheriff for alleged use of inmates on farm

By Tom Wright Mar 28, 2025 | 3:18 PM

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – State Auditor Shad White has opened an investigation into Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey. This follows reports that jail inmates worked on his family farm, using taxpayer-funded equipment.

The Auditor’s Office confirmed on March 28 that White ordered the investigation after a New York Times and Mississippi Today investigation alleged Bailey used trustees to staff his mother’s chicken farm in Puckett. The report said the inmates cleaned chicken houses, cleared land and used county-owned equipment.

Former Rankin County Deputy Christian Dedmon admitted to participating in the work as he serves a federal sentenced linked to the Goon Squad scandal.

Christian Dedmon, a former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputy and one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges, enters the Rankin County Circuit Court to listen to the victims’ impact statements, prior to the state sentencing for his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Bailey has not responded, but his attorney, Jason Dare, issued a statement defending the trustee program. He said inmates receive wages and claimed the chicken supplies were for a jail coop.

The State Auditor’s Office issued the following statement to WJTV 12 News:

The office and Auditor White are aware of the reporting and Auditor White has ordered an investigation to begin. We cannot prosecute anyone, but we will be contacting federal prosecutors to discuss how to proceed in coordination with their previous work on the sheriff’s office.

State Auditor’s Office