The Northside Sun from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 2

Page 2A THE NORTHSIDE SUN, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI Thursday, July 1, 2010 Reach 30,000 prospects per week with your card. 601.957.1122. only $65 per month! great value Madison DA owns collections agency By JIMMY HENDRIX Special to the sun district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties, has been operating a collections agency since 2002. Mr. Guest owns Mississippi Court Collections.

Mr. Guest is listed as the president, registered agent, and director of the company according to the Secretary of Web site. It is unknown if any other Mississippi district attorneys are operating similar businesses. MCC specializes in collecting unpaid fines and fees for various courts around Mississippi. The Star-Herald reported Scott Culpepper, an employee with the company, told the Attala County Board of Supervisors, are in 18 different Some of of the counties MCC has contracts with are Alcorn, Attala, Harrison, Neshoba, Simpson, Winston, Webster, and Yazoo counties.

This correspondent obtained through public records requests the following contracts: Winston County, Simpson County, Harrison County, and Alcorn County. The Yazoo County contract was verified in a phone call to county officials. The Webster Progress-Times reported two years ago the board of supervisors voted to a contract with Mississippi Court Collections. Scooter Culpepper presented the contract for collection of past-due justice court The Choctaw Plains-Dealer reported the Winston County Board of Supervisors a contract with Mississippi Court Collections to collect all mobile home and personal property taxes that are delinquent. is the last said Tax Assessor Brenda Miles.

is after our office has done everything it can to THE DAILYCORINTHIAN also reported County supervisors voted Tuesday to seek a renewed contract with a firm providing collection services for old justice court fines. Supervisors voted to move ahead with establishing a new contract with Mississippi Court Collections allowing the company to attempt to collect unpaid fines for justice court. The company has been providing the service to the county since August 2007 and receives a portion of the funds it collects on the old, unpaid fines while forwarding the remainder to the county. The service does not cost the county any money directly and allows the county to receive funds owed on fines that might otherwise simply languish in the files. Court officials report the company has returned more than $22,000 to the county since the service The Simpson County contract is representative of the other agreements.

The contract is between the county and Mississippi Court Collections for collection of delinquent indebtedness to the Justice Court of Simpson County, Delinquency is defined in (2)(a): debt, whether originating from a fine, an assessment of court costs, or both, or any other assessment of money, owed by any individual to the Justice Court of Simpson County, Mississippi, that remains unpaid, either in whole or in part, more than ninety (90) days past the date by which payment was to be made under the terms of the order of the Justice Court Judge or after the date the last payment was THE CONTRACT was signed on January 18, 2008 and expires on December 31, 2011. All contracts examined were signed by Michael Guest as President of MCC. MCC collects the money and remits it to the court. The county then pays MCC each month its fee for collecting the unpaid fines. MCC receives a share of all monies collected.

The Simpson County contract specifies the county will pay MCC 30 percent of the amount collected. This feature is included in all contracts examined. The percentage given to MCC ranges from 25 to 35 percent (depending on the contract). The other contracts were signed after Guest became district attorney: Winston (July 21, 2008), Harrison (January 5, 2009), and Alcorn (July 26, 2007 but it is currently being There are no contracts between MCC and Rankin and Madison counties. Mr.

Guest became district attorney in January 2008 and was a prosecutor in the same office for several years. It is unknown how much money has been paid to Mississippi Court Collections by the counties listed or how they were obtained. Such contracts are not illegal and do not appear to violate the code of ethics. It is also unknown if MCC has contracts with other counties. The company has no website and is located at 26 Eastgate in Brandon.

Mr. Guest did not return phone calls seeking comment. EIGHTEEN COUNTIES HAVE CONTRACTS WITH BUSINESS GranthamPoole has relocating its offices from 6360 I- 55 North near County Line Road in Jackson to the 200 Concourse Building in Ridgeland. GranthamPoole features a staff in excess of 60 that includes 34 full-time CPAs specializing in practice areas ranging from healthcare solutions, services to law firms, employer benefits, real estate and financial planning, to business valuation and litigation support, accounting and payroll services, and estate and gift. IPS and MBCI, two NCI Group companies, held a grand opening ceremony to celebrate the new insulated metal panel manufacturing line that went into an expanded NCI facility.

The master of ceremonies for the program was Carolyn Harrison, chairman of the ambassador council for the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership. business notes.