State Auditor Phil Bryant urged more controls on state vehiclesand enforcement of public corruption laws during a visit toBrookhaven Wednesday.

“To a lot of people it’s a symptom of what’s wrong ingovernment,” Bryant said of some agencies’ penchant for purchasingvehicles that may pack more features than needed or are moreluxurious than they need to perform their jobs.

The auditor is backing legislation that would change howvehicles for state agencies are purchased. Instead of resting withindividual agencies, purchasing authority would go to theDepartment of Finance and Administration.

“I can’t think of any reason any (government agency) needs anSUV,” Bryant said during a visit with The DAILY LEADER editorialboard. “Vehicles should be bought in a common sense manner.”

However, any reform in government takes time, Bryant said, andmust be incremental to gather support.

“You just don’t take it head-on and expect it to go anywhere,”he said.

Bryant said hopes a Department of Finance and Administrationvehicle tracking system comes through soon. The software program isbeing designed to track how many vehicles an agency owns. It can bedifficult to follow because purchasing rules allow agencies to buyvehicles at any time of the year.

“They can have 200 one day and 250 the next,” Bryant said. “Theycome and go so fast (the annual report) is just a snapshot.”

The auditor would also like to see his office given prosecutionpowers to pursue public corruption. Following an investigation byhis office, Bryant said prosecution efforts are then turned over tothe district attorney.

Despite the efforts of some courageous district attorneys,Bryant called the pursuit of embezzlement prosecution againstpublic officials “frustrating.” Many district attorneys arehesitant to take public officials to trial for a variety ofreasons, including political risk and friendship.

“They usually know the people they’re prosecuting, so it’sreally uncomfortable for them,” Bryant said.

An even greater challenge, he said, is getting a jail sentencefor public officials convicted of embezzlement. He thought that hadaccomplished when the Legislature passed a law that publicofficials who embezzled more than $10,000 would be required to stayat least one year in a Mississippi Department of Correctionsfacility.

“I thought that was great, but it’s actually been frustrating,”Bryant said.

In order to avoid jail time, many of the accused will plead to alesser dollar figure or the judge will sentence them to housearrest, which qualifies for the MDOC facility requirement. Duringan earlier stop in Brookhaven, Bryant called for aggressivedistrict attorneys and judges who will sentence corrupt officialsto jail time.

“The only thing that will stop public corruption in Mississippiis when the officials get an orange jumpsuit and is sent to prisonlike everybody else,” Bryant said.