HOLMES COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – On Thursday, July 14, State Auditor Shad White announced demand letters were served to former Holmes County Consolidated School District Superintendent James Henderson, former Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Peoples, and four former school board members; Anthony Anderson, Louise Winters, April Jones, and Elder Dean.
They were issued demand letters resulting from audit findings released in December 2020. The demands are as followed:
- Henderson – $90,677.18
- Peoples – $46,937.68
- Anderson – $24,623.90
- Winters – $13,523.90
- Jones – $13,523.89
- Dean – $13,523.89
“I appreciate the joint efforts of both the audit team and the investigative team who worked on this case in my office,” said White. “We are demanding this money back on behalf of the students and taxpayers of Holmes County who deserve to have their money spent in the way that the law requires.”
Some of the findings from the audit, which led to an investigation, include:
- The district paid more than $4,200 for a party to celebrate the passage of a bond issue Holmes County voters ultimately rejected.
- The former superintendent was paid a $170,000 salary despite the school board only voting to pay him a $160,000 salary.
- Auditors identified payments made to companies owned by the former superintendent’s relatives. These purchases totaled $14,000.
- A district credit card was used without school board authorization. Auditors identified 22 purchases made with this card without appropriate documentation. These transactions totaled more than $12,000.