Caroline Gilbert Rankin County Tax Collector

UPDATE 12:20 p.m. - ALL offices are fully functional at this time.

UPDATE 10:40 a.m. - Our Brandon and Richland offices are working now. Please be patient as we try to navigate around any lingering issues. *Flowood is still NOT available at this time. *

The nationwide outages reported in the news are effecting our offices. Our IT team is diligently working to get our systems up and running though we currently are unable to process any transactions. We have no timeline at this time to know when this will be corrected.

UPDATE: We are able to process transactions again. Please be patient as some transactions may take a little longer so that we can verify they are processing correctly.

There is a statewide issue with the system our offices utilize for processing tags. At this time, we are not able to handle any transactions dealing with tags or titles. We apologize for this inconvenience and will update as soon as we are aware that it has been corrected.

Former Rankin County Tax Collector Clerk Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced that Brittney Phillips, a former clerk at the Rankin County Tax Collector’s Office, has pleaded guilty to embezzlement. Phillips was arrested in November of 2023.

Phillips is guilty of embezzling cash from the Rankin County Tax Collector’s Office by not registering car tags and taking the cash payments. Phillips was served with a $36,583.47 demand at the time of her arrest.

“I’m grateful for the work of the Rankin County Tax Collector for turning this case over, the investigators, and the prosecutors who worked together to bring this case to a close,” said State Auditor Shad White. “By working together with other offices, my team has recovered more money for the taxpayers in the last five years than any other five-year period.”

Phillips was prosecuted by the Rankin County District Attorney’s Office. Phillips was sentenced to 10 years, six years suspended, four years to serve and five years of supervised probation.

A $50,000 surety bond covered Phillips’ employment at the Rankin County Tax Collector’s Office. Surety bonds are similar to insurance designed to protect taxpayers from corruption.

Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s office online at any time by clicking the red button on the Auditor's website or calling 1-(800)-321-1275 during normal business hours.

🐰 ATTENTION RANKIN COUNTY HOMEOWNERS🐰
You have two locations to file or update your homestead exemption:
🐣 211 E Government St, Ste C, Brandon, MS 39042
🐣 5417 Hwy 25, Ste L, Flowood, MS 39232

It was only fitting that on ground was broken for the Genuine Mississippi Agricultural Market Complex. The beautiful day was the perfect backdrop as Commissioner Andy Gipson spoke of God’s promises and all that He provides. The vision for this facility is one that has been a collaboration among many and one that will continue to evolve over time to benefit not just Mississippians, but our nation.

🚨🚨 Incoming High School Juniors🚨🚨

🌟 Ready to step into leadership? Join our Youth Leadership Program and experience growth, impact, and community connection! 🚀

Applications for the 2024-2025 class are LIVE now! If you're a rising junior in Rankin County, don't miss out on this opportunity to develop leadership skills and make a difference in your community.

🔗 Click Here to Apply: https://bit.ly/RankinYouLeadApp

** Deliver your applications to the Rankin Chamber by April 26th.**

Tax season is no joke in our office. My team did an AMAZING job this year. I’ve had so many comment about how smooth and quickly the lines moved and how fast their checks processed when sent in the mail. I continuously get compliments about how helpful our group is. I could brag about them for days, but I think it’s important for you, the citizens of Rankin County, to know how they are always willing to take (and give) feedback so that we may better serve you.

All locations of the Rankin County Tax Collector will open at NOON tomorrow, January 17.

Due to inclement weather all three locations of the Rankin County Tax Collector will be closed Tuesday, January 16.

I had the privilege of tossing the coin at last night’s Brandon vs Pearl game. It was an honor to walk on that field with these guys. Grateful for opportunities such as this.

Always a great event! So glad I didn’t have to cook last night!

Brandon, Miss. - This morning, Special Agents from the State Auditor’s Office arrested Brittney Phillips, a former deputy tax collector, and charged her with embezzlement. This arrest was the result of an internal investigation Tax Collector Caroline Gilbert conducted after she discovered suspicious cash refunds entered in the car tag computer system. Using the evidence she discovered, Gilbert was able to direct law enforcement to the exact dates and times that the bogus refunds were entered into the system. With that information, Gilbert, along with Sheriff’s deputies, was able to use video surveillance to capture the employee entering false refund data into the system and then taking the cash money from her drawer and placing it into her clothing. Once the video evidence was obtained, the State Auditor was notified and Special Agents undertook a criminal investigation that resulted in today’s arrest. Phillips had been with the office since September 2021. She was terminated in May 2023, the morning after her theft was confirmed by video surveillance.

Gilbert said, “I hope this will be the last time someone decides to dip their fingers into the taxpayers’ money. Everyone - my staff and the taxpayers of Rankin County - should know by now that I am here and I am watching, just like I promised I would. I am watching our computer systems, I am watching how my team interacts with our customers, and I am watching the taxpayers’ money. That’s why I was able to discover this fake refund scheme and deliver the case to law enforcement so quickly. I will continue to work closely with our Sheriff’s Office, State Auditor and District Attorney to make sure we detect and stop the theft of taxpayer money in Rankin County.”

**Arrests are not convictions. Persons charged with crimes are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law.**

UPDATE: The system is down until further notice and our offices will be closed for the remainder of the day.

Several state agencies, including Department of Revenue - our statewide tag system, are experiencing outages. As a result there are numerous transactions we are unable to process. Our offices are open but we apologize for any inconvenience.

Friday was Decades Day and we had some take it way back and some kept it with the current times. Then or now, we enjoyed it all the same!

This has been such a fun tradition with our team! Each Friday in October, our offices have themed dress up days leading up to Halloween. Our first for 2023 is Favorite Band Tshirt day. We were so excited to have the Chancery Clerk and Board of Supervisors offices participate with us (though we weren’t able to get their pictures)!