Mississippi prison finance officer once convicted of embezzlement

A woman convicted of embezzlement and later pardoned by Gov. Haley Barbour is now the finance manager of the private run East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian.

Jessie Octavia Houston has worked at the private prison since July 2012.

A federal lawsuit was recently filed over conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which houses many suffering from mental illness. The lawsuit calls the prison "barbaric" and said inmates are beaten, exploited and mistreated by gangs and others.

Houston couldn't be reached for comment. A message was left on her voicemail at East Mississippi Correctional Facility.

Utah-based Management & Training Corp. took over the Meridian prison in July 2012. MTC is responsible for hiring the personnel.

"While MTC does not comment on personnel matters, it's our policy to submit requests for background checks to the Mississippi Department of Corrections for all new hires," said MTC spokesman Issa Arnita.

"When there's a question about the results of a background check, we carefully consider whether or not to hire an individual," Arnita said. "In reference to this particular case, we believe the granting of an unconditional pardon fully restores an individual's civil rights that were lost after a conviction and restores the person's innocence as though he or she never committed a crime."

Houston was one of numerous people with a criminal record who Barbour pardoned or gave clemency to as he was leaving office.

Records show Houston, 42, was sentenced in September 2002 to 60 months of probation. Her probation ended in 2007.

The Clarion-Ledger was unable to find out how much money Houston was convicted of embezzling. An employee in the Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk's office said that technically there is no criminal record of Houston anymore in the clerk's office since she received a full and complete pardon.

Legislation passed last year said government agencies or public bodies can't hire people convicted of government embezzlement for positions in which they would handle money. It was amended this year. State Sen. Briggs Hopson, R-Vicksburg, who authored this year's bill, to make it pply to existing public employees or future employees.

"We don't want them back on the public dole," Hopson said.

But the bill wouldn't apply to Houston since she wouldn't be considered a public employee and it's not known whether her embezzlement case involved public funds.

"We must be diligent in protecting the taxpayers' money, which is why the legislature recently passed a law prohibiting those convicted of embezzlement from working in a public capacity," said state Sen. Brice Wiggins, a former prosecutor. "That being said, we can't legislate every conceivable scenario. At some point, those who want to do wrong will find a way no matter how many laws we pass."

Wiggins said private businesses, are just that, private and who they choose to hire and fire is their business.

"I would hope, however, that if a private company intends to do business with the state that it take the necessary precautions to protect the taxpayers' interest," Wiggins said.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates @jackson.gannett.com or (601) 961-7212. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.