NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors closed the public out of discussions Monday about the ongoing investigation into the criminal cyberattack that crippled county government’s IT system last month.
They can’t provide details to the public because of the sensitive nature of the ransom-motivated attack on the county’s information technology structure, said Scott Slover, the supervisors’ attorney.
County administrators did say earlier this month that most of county government’s IT system is back online. However, the Adams County tax collector’s office still can’t process payments for vehicle taxes to renew car tags or issue license plates for newly purchased vehicles. The cyberattack disabled Adams County’s link to the Mississippi Department of Revenue, which processes the tax payments and registrations required for getting car tags, according to Adams County Tax Collector Terrence Bailey.
County Supervisor Ricky Gray noted that he’s gotten many phone calls from constituents about this and wanted to discuss the IT crash during the Board of Supervisors’ open portion of Monday’s meeting. However, the board closed the public out of their discussions using a state law that allows government boards to meet in secret to confer about a wide array of issues — including investigations about “allegations of misconduct or violation of law.”
It’s uncertain how long the county’s car-tag operations will be down. Slover did say county officials might consider ways to waive penalties or fines for delinquent vehicle owners with recently expired car tags or without license plates for newly purchased vehicles.
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