(BILOXI, Miss.) A preliminary audit by federal authorities says the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources may have skirted laws requiring competitive bidding for contracts.
The Sun Herald reports that the U.S. Interior Department's Office of Inspector General's audit questions more than $600,000 in contracts and an additional $116,000 paid to a consultant.
The report was dated in July and turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with recommendations for fixing the problems. Neither agency will comment on the status of the audits.
The federal audit said DMR gave inadequate justification for not seeking competitive bids that would assure the government gets the best deals for goods and services.
Since the federal audits, the state Auditor's Office has begun its own investigation, seizing DMR records in October.
