St. Andrews Subdivision

Legislative Watchdogs

PEER Investigates Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Effectiveness

PEER is the primary entity performing legislative oversight in Mississippi. State law (MISS. CODE ANN. Section 5-3-51 et seq.) specifically grants PEER the authority to perform the following activities at any time as the committee deems necessary:

• evaluate the performance of state and local agencies;
• review agency records;
• investigate agencies which are in whole or in part supported by public funds; and,
• review agency compliance with state laws.
• The law also grants the Committee the power to:

• file or assist the Attorney General’s office in filing actions for the recovery of any funds misused or misappropriated and to prosecute or assist in prosecution of criminal violations revealed;
• subpoena and examine witnesses and documents; and,
• appoint and house the auditor for the state’s correctional system(MISS. CODE ANN. Section 47-5-35).
• In addition to these legislated functions, from 1989 to the present the PEER Committee has provided staff assistance to the Standing Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment.

PEER bases its investigative and evaluative work on first-hand observation of the operations of state agencies and local government. While the primary objective of legislative oversight is to detect problems and deficiencies in the delivery of government services, PEER reviews assume a variety of forms. The three major types of oversight reviews are:

• financial audits;
• economy and efficiency reviews;
• program evaluations.

A full scope review incorporates all three of these major oversight review types.

The purpose of a financial audit or fiscal review is to determine through financial records whether public monies are being legally spent and properly controlled. An economy and efficiency review (also referred to as management audit or operations review) focuses on whether an entity is managing and utilizing its resources (e.g., property, personnel) economically and efficiently. This type of review also seeks to determine the causes of inefficiencies and/or uneconomical practices. A program or performance evaluation determines the effectiveness of government programs and operations in accomplishing goals and objectives. This type of review compares what a program is accomplishing to what the Legislature intended the program to accomplish. A full scope review incorporates all of the previously described review types to arrive at a comprehensive assessment of overall program objectives and impact. A type of limited scope review which came into vogue in the late 1970’s is the sunset review. While incorporating elements of all three major review types, a sunset review is limited in scope by time and legal constraints.

In addition to these more formal types of oversight reviews, PEER staff spends a significant amount of time in performing the following types of legislative assistance:

• background investigations on state government appointments requiring legislative confirmation;
• fiscal notes which estimate the financial impact of bills being considered by the Legislature; and,
• informational requests initiated by legislators which are generally very short-term and non-controversial in nature, e.g. determining the number of employees in a given school district.

How to get Action

A citizen can bring a matter of concern before the Committee for consideration as a PEER project by providing to the Committee a signed written summary of his or her complaint. With the exception of projects authorized by statute or legislative information requests that are neither sensitive (i.e., suggesting improper conduct) nor complex, the Committee must approve any request for a PEER review prior to initiation of the review by PEER staff. The Committee assigns top priority to requests from legislators and legislative committees.

Links

Miss. PEER Site
PEER FAQ
Recent Reports
Previous Reports
Subject Index