Questions Raised About No-Bid Nature Of A Contract For A Study

The District Attorney for Madison and Rankin Counties in Mississippi has opened an inquiry into a $1.2 million airport study that was awarded without a competitive bid process.

The Madison County Journal reports that the Madison County Development Authority authorized the study in 2013, and it was approved by the Board of Supervisors. The contract was awarded to County Engineer Rudy Warnock in May 2013 after being approved in an executive session by the MCEDA board on March 25, 2013.

While District Attorney Michael Guest did not call the probe a criminal investigation, he did say there was enough evidence to warrant requesting documents "so we could look at the contract."

The $1.2 million study was done in an effort to determine if there was justification for another airport in Madison County. Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler said it was her understanding that the county's existing Bruce Campbell Airfield would have to be closed before the FAA would financially support another airport, but the FAA said through spokeswoman Kathleen Bergan that they had not been involved in any discussions with the county about a new airport, and the agency had not been contacted until September, nearly six months after they initially learned about the study from media reports.

The inquiry comes after reports from the paper that looked into relationships between county officials and some campaign contributors, but there have been no accusations of any illegal activities. However, one of the potential sites for the new airport is on property owned by a person who has held multiple fundraisers for Board of Supervisors President Karl Hanks, according to the paper.

FMI: http://www.daguest.com/