Mississippi Today political editor Geoff Pender and reporter Taylor Vance investigated state-funded projects that benefited Rep. Trey Lamar’s neighborhood and home district.
Pender and Vance cover the Mississippi Legislature, with Pender covering Lamar since he was first elected to the House in 2011 and Vance covering Lamar since 2019. Over the past few years, Lamar has risen in the House leadership ranks, first as a close sergeant to former Speaker of the House Philip Gunn and now as one of current Speaker of the House Jason White’s closest confidants.
Pender and Vance, as two members of Mississippi Today’s Politics Team, closely cover this current crop of House leadership.
To aid our investigation, we filed public records requests with the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, the Tate County Board of Supervisors and the city of Senatobia. We pulled property deeds from both Tate County and Hinds County, and we closely assessed engineering blueprints and other government-approved plans for the state-funded projects in question.
We interviewed dozens of people in Tate County and in Jackson — many of whom declined to talk on the record out of fear that speaking publicly about Lamar and his politically powerful family could harm their livelihoods in some way.
We traveled multiple times to Tate County to see the state-funded projects ourselves, taking photos, videos and even aerial shots with a drone. We spent time in Lamar’s Jackson neighborhood, too, trying to get a clearer picture of why and how the state spent money on a sleepy, well-paved cul-de-sac.
We worked the phones for weeks, making dozens and dozens of calls — many of which went unanswered or ignored. We talked with state elected officials, local elected officials and everyday residents who had some interest in the expenditures in question. We also reached out to people in the Facebook group called “TateCounty Watchdogs,” a citizen-formed group with more than 2,000 members that has publicly questioned some of the same state-funded projects.
We asked for comment from both Speaker of the House Jason White and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann about the system in which these legislative pet projects are awarded. Neither would comment directly about Lamar and the specific projects we investigated, but both sent lengthy statements about the process. You can read those full statements by clicking this link.
We also reached out to Gov. Tate Reeves, who signed the projects into law and routinely line-item vetoes legislative pet projects he disagrees with. Reeves’ office did not respond.
And, of course, we spent a considerable amount of time talking with and trying to talk more with Lamar himself about the projects and their purpose. Lamar granted one telephone interview with us, and he cut a second phone interview short after expressing frustration with the questions. After that, we sent him a written list of questions about the projects, and he replied with a lengthy written statement that we have quoted throughout the series.
To most easily access the multiple parts of the series, click on this link for our summary story, which will serve as your guide. You can also follow the links below to read the series.
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