FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
As the federal government investigates Mississippi prisons over reports of violence, the state auditor found officials have misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars on staff perks.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections bought Himalayan salt lamps and massage chairs for personnel while inmates live in dangerously unsanitary conditions, according to the audit report.
The findings have been sent to investigators at the auditor s office and federal authorities.
An audit of the Mississippi prison system showed that the Department of Corrections had misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars on travel, luxury items, and buyouts.
The inappropriate purchases included $17,545.25 on 20 massage chairs, $18,004.04 for items like decorative lamps, rugs, art, signs, Himalayan salt lamps, boom boxes, and CDs for staff stress reduction rooms , the report said. During one wellness day for staff and their families in Octobe
Mississippi grieves the death of former Gov. William Winter
December 19, 2020 GMT
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2015 file photo, former Gov. William Winter speaks at the announcement of a $2.5 million donation to the Foundation for Mississippi History and will be used for exhibits in the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, both under construction in Jackson. Family spokesman Dick Molpus says Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, that Winter died Friday night at home in Jackson. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2015 file photo, former Gov. William Winter speaks at the announcement of a $2.5 million donation to the Foundation for Mississippi History and will be used for exhibits in the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, both under construction in Jackson. Family spokesman Dick Molpus says Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, that Winter died Friday night at home in Jackson. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Rogelio V. Solis/ AP file
In this Sept. 17, 2018 Associated Press file photo, Pelicia Hall, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner speaks before a meeting of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee Fiscal Year 2020 hearing in Jackson, Miss.Â
Rogelio V. Solis
By Brittany Brown  Mississippi Today Dec 18, 2020
Rogelio V. Solis/ AP file
In this Sept. 17, 2018 Associated Press file photo, Pelicia Hall, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner speaks before a meeting of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee Fiscal Year 2020 hearing in Jackson, Miss. Rogelio V. Solis Former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall and her administration mishandled thousands of dollars in public funds, according to a report the state auditorâs office released on Thursday.
December 18, 2020 GMT
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Mississippi’s prison system used tax dollars to buy massage chairs, Himalayan salt lamps and a bedroom set and illegally paid some employees for extra work time they had accumulated, the state’s auditor said in a scathing report that found widespread misspending at the agency while it struggled to fill jobs for guards and was plagued by violence.
“It is infuriating to see such waste when more money needs to be spent on the frontline corrections officers and directly in Mississippi’s prisons,” State Auditor Shad White said in a statement.
The massage chairs and salt lamps were among thousands of dollars spent for meditation rooms at prison facilities, according to the audit released on Thursday. It looked at spending by the department’s previous leadership.