HATTIESBURG, MS (GC Wire) – Just days after sworn testimony challenged how IntelliSafe LLC operated its controversial school-zone traffic enforcement program, a newly filed affidavit from Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell has raised new questions about another aspect of the company’s operations: What happened to tens of thousands of dollars IntelliSafe’s contract required be paid to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety?
The affidavit identifies political consultant Josh Gregory, an owner of IntelliSafe LLC, at the center of those discussions. According to Tindell, Gregory contacted him in 2025 and said IntelliSafe wanted to make a donation supporting law enforcement officers and public safety employees before the end of the year. Tindell wrote that he presumed the proposed contribution was “for tax purposes” and advised Gregory that the Mississippi Public Safety Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting law enforcement personnel, could accept charitable donations. Tindell, along with other DPS officials, serves on the Foundation’s board.
The new discovery stems from a lawsuit filed by Jacob Stevens and Christopher Puckett against the City of Hattiesburg, Mayor Toby Barker, Police Chief Hardy Sims, IntelliSafe LLC, Robert Wilkinson, Alexander Wilkinson, and others. The suit alleges Intellisafe and its principals conducted an illegal traffic enforcement scheme in Hattiesburg. Defendants have denied the allegations and litigation remains pending.
The affidavit follows a week of significant discovery in the Hattiesburg litigation, including testimony from Municipal Court Clerk Phillip McSwain that the “court dates” printed on IntelliSafe notices were not actually court proceedings, that no municipal court case existed unless a recipient refused to pay the company, and testimony from IntelliSafe’s corporate representative acknowledging the system was automated despite previous court filings arguing otherwise.
Familiar Faces from Ocean Springs
For readers in Ocean Springs, many of the names appearing throughout the Hattiesburg litigation are already familiar.
IntelliSafe LLC was founded by former Ocean Springs City Attorney Robert Wilkinson and former Ocean Springs Police Chief Mark Dunston, two of the principal figures behind Ocean Springs’ controversial Securix uninsured motorist enforcement program.
Discovery obtained in the Hattiesburg case also identifies political consultants Josh Gregory and Quinton Dickerson as members of IntelliSafe LLC, making them owners of the company alongside Wilkinson and Dunston. Gregory and Dickerson were likewise involved in the Securix program before later resurfacing with IntelliSafe.
Like IntelliSafe, the Securix program generated legal challenges over the role of a private company in traffic enforcement and the handling of money collected from motorists. City officials in Ocean Springs have previously acknowledged the program operated outside the municipal court system and that no municipal court records were created for the citations.
Ocean Springs ultimately terminated the program, but continues to hold nearly $500,000 collected through Securix citations.
The latest discovery is particularly significant because it provides the first sworn testimony and documentary evidence detailing how IntelliSafe operated internally — from the handling of citations to the movement of money and the roles played by the company’s principals.
Many of those same individuals previously helped build the Securix program in Ocean Springs.
Contract Required Payments to DPS
The latest affidavit centers on a provision contained in IntelliSafe’s 2024 service agreement with the City of Hattiesburg.
Under Exhibit B of the contract, every $230 diversion payment collected through the school-zone enforcement program was to be divided into three portions: $130 to IntelliSafe, $75 to the City of Hattiesburg, and $25 to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
Earlier this year, GC Wire sought to verify that those payments had been made.
In response to an April Public Records Act request, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety told GC Wire it could locate no records showing it had received payments associated with the IntelliSafe program.
GC Wire then contacted Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker seeking an explanation for the apparent discrepancy. The mayor’s office declined to answer the questions and instead suggested a formal public records request be submitted. When offered a second opportunity to provide a statement for publication, the City’s outside counsel declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Internal Records Told a Different Story
Discovery produced during the lawsuit added another layer to the paper trail.
GC Wire reviewed several monthly accounting reports Josh Gregory sent to Hattiesburg officials between October 2024 and April 2026. Each report contained a line item labeled “Total DPS,” reflecting tens of thousands of dollars in payments designated for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
In one October 2024 email transmitting the September accounting, Gregory wrote to Hattiesburg Chief Administrative Officer Ann Jones:
“Ann, the check for September is being mailed today. I have attached the billing details.”
The attached report listed “Total City: $40,502.62” and “Total DPS: $13,500.54.”
None of the monthly reports reviewed by GC Wire referenced the Mississippi Public Safety Foundation. Instead, each continued identifying the allocation as “Total DPS.”
Payne’s Testimony Changed the Narrative
Last week, IntelliSafe corporate representative Joe Payne, who is also one of the owners, testified that the money did not actually go to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
Instead, Payne testified that the funds were ultimately directed to the Mississippi Public Safety Foundation and that Gregory handled discussions with Commissioner Tindell regarding that arrangement.
That testimony appeared difficult to reconcile with both the Hattiesburg contract and IntelliSafe’s own monthly accounting reports identifying payments as “Total DPS.”
Tindell Describes His Role
Commissioner Tindell’s affidavit provides his first sworn account of what occurred.
Tindell stated that, to his knowledge, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety “has not entered into an agreements regarding the school zone traffic enforcement technology being utilized by the City of Hattiesburg.”
He further stated that Gregory contacted him in 2025 and advised that IntelliSafe wanted to make a donation benefiting law enforcement officers and public safety employees before the end of the year.
“I presumed this was for tax purposes,” Tindell wrote in the affidavit.
According to Tindell, he advised Gregory that the Mississippi Public Safety Foundation could accept charitable donations if IntelliSafe wished to make one.
The affidavit states that, according to Foundation records, IntelliSafe donated $78,532 to the nonprofit on Dec. 30, 2025. The sworn statement does not address why the Hattiesburg contract nevertheless directed payments to the state agency.
Tindell received a subpoena to attend a July 13 court hearing while attending last week’s Mississippi Municipal League Conference in Biloxi, but submitted a written statement instead due to a previously planned trip out of the country.
Questions Still Unanswered
While the affidavit provides Tindell’s explanation of how the donation came about, it leaves several questions unanswered.
If IntelliSafe intended to satisfy the contract’s $25-per-citation payment through a charitable donation, the affidavit does not explain when that decision was made or whether the City of Hattiesburg was informed.
Nor does it explain why IntelliSafe’s monthly accounting reports continued identifying thousands of dollars as “Total DPS” throughout 2024 and 2025, even though Payne later testified the money ultimately went to the Mississippi Public Safety Foundation.
Those questions have taken on greater significance because the same litigation has already produced sworn testimony challenging other aspects of IntelliSafe’s operations, including the use of non-judicial “court dates,” the timing of municipal court case filings, and the company’s role in administering what motorists believed to be an official court process.
Attorney Matthew Lawrence, who represents the plaintiffs, told GC Wire he does not believe Commissioner Tindell did anything wrong based on the information currently available. He said he intends to use the affidavit during upcoming proceedings as the litigation continues.
A hearing on a motion for summary judgement is scheduled for Monday morning in Forrest County Chancery Court. GC Wire will continue covering the proceedings.
