A single public records request cracked the facade.
OCEAN SPRINGS, MS – GC Wire obtained a copy of an uninsured motorist citation issued to a driver during the time the Securix program was active in Ocean Springs. Securix, a private company contracted by the city, used automated license plate readers to detect uninsured vehicles by cross-referencing plate numbers with the state’s insurance database.
That citation was used to test the city. And the city failed.
Fake tickets were issued. False claims of criminal charges were made. Fraud was committed.
Other cities using the Securix program may have followed the law, but one thing is certain: Ocean Springs did not, and we now know why.
Here’s how it all went down.
What Was Promised — and What Actually Happened
The Securix contract presented to the public in 2021 – and approved by the Aldermen and former-Mayor Shea Dobson – was, on its face, legally sound.
It called for a standard process: uninsured motorist citations would be issued by a city law enforcement officer, then filed and adjudicated through the Ocean Springs Municipal Court — complete with case numbers, optional hearings, and judicial oversight. Offenders could then choose to go to court or voluntarily go through a “Diversion Program,” which consisted of a short informational video and a $300 fine.
That structure gave the program legitimacy and aligned with Mississippi law, which requires that traffic-related violations be entered into the court system for proper oversight and/or adjudication.
But that version of the program seemingly wasn’t profitable enough for some officials in Ocean Springs. If an alleged offender chose the court route, Securix – and all of its agents – made no money. The city was also at risk of making nothing, as the ticket could be dismissed.
City Attorney Robert Wilkinson approached municipal court Judge Calvin Taylor with a strong suggestion. He asked if the court would use its authority to convince offenders to go through the Diversion Program, rather than making a plea in the courtroom. This path would, essentially, ensure Securix – and the city – gets paid.
When Judge Taylor was unresponsive to Wilkinson’s request, the city chose a different route: bypass the court system altogether.
Of course, this route was contradictory to state law, which requires that all traffic citations be filed with the appropriate municipal or justice court. It was also contrary to the Securix contract and the promises made to residents.
The end result: a handful went to court early on. After the policy changed? Zero. Of the thousands of tickets issued, only 23 of them were adjudicated or overseen through the court system.
After the city’s policy shift, those who chose to attend the court date listed on their ticket were told they were not on the docket and directed to see a non-court person to settle the matter. That person was usually Alexander Wilkinson, the City Attorney’s son who served as Director of Operations for the Securix program in Ocean Springs.
Once the city changed the process, the “court date” listed on every ticket was nothing more than a sham.
How the Scam was Ultimately Unveiled
GC Wire, as well as many in the community, had long suspected the city detracted from the agreed upon public contract and began running a cash grab system that skirted contractual obligations and the law.
Using a sample ticket, issued by the city to Madison County resident Amy Divine, we began digging.
A public records request was made for any and all traffic citations, misdemeanors, or other violations issued to Ms. Divine. The city replied with an email stating, “We have no records with the name provided during the dates requested.”
But how could that be?
We were in possession of the ticket. It was clearly marked, “State of Mississippi Uniform Traffic Ticket.” It had a city case number. It had a sworn affidavit from the issuing officer and his badge number. It had the city and police department logos on it.
Yet, the city maintained they had no such record of this citation.
When pressed for clarification – and presented with a copy of the actual ticket – City Clerk Patty Gaston replied, “This is a Securix document. The city does not have the Securix citations as they were not ran through our court system. The citations are for the diversion program and the officer was paid by Securix not the City.”
This short email, combined with other evidence, was loaded with information that confirmed The City of Ocean Springs had implemented a program that, by all indications, misrepresented its legal authority and may have defrauded residents and those passing through.
The City Lied to Residents
Although the decision to illegally bypass the courts was now official city policy, officials made the decision to deceive those who received tickets.
Mailed citations were stamped in bold: “FINAL NOTICE PRIOR TO YOUR SCHEDULED COURT APPEARANCE” — a phrase designed to give the impression that the ticket had already entered into the judicial system, even though the city now admits it never was.
One of the most alarming aspects of the Securix citation issued to Amy Divine — and likely to thousands of others — is the threat printed in bold:
“AVOID SUSPENSION OF YOUR LICENSE”
This language implies that failure to respond to the citation will result in a suspension of driving privileges — a consequence normally imposed by the court only after adjudication or failure to comply with a lawful court order.
But the City of Ocean Springs now admits these citations were:
- Never filed in court
- Never reviewed by a judge
- Never entered into any official docket
- Processed entirely outside the legal system
So how could a private vendor — or even a city acting outside judicial authority — threaten a consequence like license suspension?
They couldn’t. And the city knew it.
This is a textbook example of fraud under color of law — invoking government authority to coerce compliance when no such authority exists. Under federal law, this can qualify as a civil rights violation, especially when paired with due process deprivations.
It also raises serious issues under state and federal consumer protection statutes, which prohibit government agencies — and vendors working with them — from making false or misleading legal claims to extract payment from residents.
If the city never intended to follow through with a suspension (because they had no mechanism to do so), the threat was empty by design — a tactic to pressure recipients into paying a fee, not to ensure legal compliance. See a copy of the ticket here.
False CRIMINAL Charges, Real Pressure
To make matters worse, if payment was not made, ticket recipients would get a second mail out. This time, from Chief of Police Mark Dunston himself.
“We previously issued and mailed a Uniform Traffic Ticket to you for the misdemeanor offense of driving without vehicle insurance,” the letter stated — printed on official Ocean Springs Police Department letterhead.
It continued:
“I am sending you this letter and a copy of this citation to serve as final notice.”
Recipients were instructed to resolve the matter by visiting a website and calling a number operated by Securix or face the consequences at the specified court date.
But by the city’s own admission:
- The “Uniform Traffic Tickets” were never filed with the court
- No judge reviewed them
- No official misdemeanor charges were ever filed
- And no court proceedings existed
Despite this, the city’s top law enforcement official used the authority of his office to erroneously tell citizens they had been criminally charged — and directed them to pay a private company to resolve it.
This is fraud under color of law: falsely invoking criminal charges and court consequences that do not legally exist in order to extract payment from citizens under threat of prosecution.
And because these letters were sent through the mail, it may also trigger scrutiny under federal mail fraud statutes, particularly given the documented pattern of misleading conduct by public officials.
Despite trying to scare recipients, the city was well aware there were no charges actually filed and there would be no consequences for non-payment. See the letter here.
Why Did the City Run the Scam?
When City Attorney Robert Wilkinson and Police Chief Mark Dunston presented the program to the Board and Mayor, it seemed like a good idea to cut down on uninsured motorists and bring a new revenue stream into city coffers.
What the elected officials may not have known was that both the City Attorney and Police Chief stood to personally profit from the program.
Wilkinson did not disclose to the board that he was representing Securix and actively pitching the program to other cities in Mississippi. Dunston did not disclose that once Ocean Springs signed on, Securix would be paying him $5,000 a month – and his assistant $2,000 a month – to assist Wilkinson in the pitches.
For these two men, Securix in Ocean Springs had to work and it had to be successful enough that other cities would line up to sign on to the program. So, Wilkinson shaped the program for maximum profits, assumingly advising the city the changes were legally sound. They weren’t.
What the Contract (and Law) Required — and How the City Violated It
Once a city votes to accept a contract, as they did with Securix, they cannot scrap the verbiage and create their own new program without another public vote. But that is precisely what Ocean Springs did.
City Clerk Patty Gaston’s statement that “the city does not have the Securix citations as they were not ran through our court system” stands in direct conflict with the language of the contract the Board of Aldermen approved.
That contract, which was presented to the public in accordance with open meeting laws, required the following:
- Court Oversight: All citations issued under the program were to be filed with and processed through the Ocean Springs Municipal Court. This ensured due process, public accountability, and compliance with Mississippi law.
- City Records: The contract obligated the city to maintain and manage citation records as part of its public enforcement responsibilities.
- Law Enforcement Officers: Only law enforcement officers employed by the City of Ocean Springs were authorized to issue citations.
Each of these requirements was ignored.
Despite Gaston’s claim that “the officer was paid by Securix, not the City,” minutes from a 2021 Board of Aldermen meeting that took place during the program’s rollout tell a different story. Those minutes show that the officers issuing the citations were city employees on the city payroll — not private contractors. The program’s foundation, as presented to the public, relied on police and court authority — not private collection enforcement.
By routing citations outside the court system, turning records over to a private vendor, and blurring the employment status of the officers involved, the city created a parallel enforcement system that looked official but operated outside the law.
The city of Ocean Springs used real police officers to extract money from citizens for a private company with no legal authority and no court oversight.
The citation that Amy Divine received looked official. It mirrored the format of a state-issued Uniform Traffic Ticket. But, according to the city’s own admission, none of it was filed with any court.
In legal terms, that means the citation was not worth the paper it was printed on. Despite scary threats printed on the tickets, some residents found out there were no actual repercussions if a recipient chose to throw the ticket in the trash.
They All Knew — and Froze the Money
When the Securix contract was passed, the Board of Aldermen approved a public-facing program with court oversight, sworn officers, and legal procedures in place. But we now know the program they approved was not the program the city ran.
And the clearest sign the Board of Aldermen knew what they were doing was wrong? The Board froze the money.
Despite collecting $468,681 through the Securix diversion program, the city has never spent a dime of it. Instead, it was set aside in a “reserve fund” where it still remains to this day — untouched, unallocated, and quietly quarantined.
When asked why, Alderman Rickey Authement offered a simple answer:
“In case we have to give the money back.”
That statement — combined with public records, internal emails, and contradictory letters signed by city officials — shows this wasn’t an accident. It was a coordinated scheme. A conspiracy to ignore the law, mislead the public, and maintain plausible deniability until the walls started closing in.
The Recusal That Wasn’t
When questions about the legality of the Securix program began to surface, City Attorney Wilkinson claimed he had recused himself from all matters involving Securix — citing a potential conflict of interest.
But hundreds of internal emails show otherwise.
Far from stepping back, Wilkinson remained the architect of the program’s implementation, offering legal guidance to city officials, coordinating logistics, and even advising city staff on how to handle complaints and court policy related to the citations. His law firm also responded to subpoenas and represented the city in litigation directly tied to Securix — further debunking any claim of recusal.
To add a veneer of impartiality, the official board minutes from the Securix contract vote mention that Attorney Amy St. Pé, Wilkinson’s former law partner, would review the contract. But no city records show that St. Pé ever conducted such a review. Instead, all legal communication and negotiation continued to run through Wilkinson — the very person who stood to benefit from the program’s expansion statewide.
Wilkinson and the City Lied to a Federal Court
The pattern of lies went beyond just misleading residents and elected officials. The city, led by Wilkinson, also lied to a federal court.
When Amy Divine filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Securix program in Ocean Springs, the city — through the Wilkinson law firm — responded to a subpoena seeking details about how citations were issued and verified.
The city’s official written response to the subpoena made several untrue statements, including an easily verifiable lie about the tickets being sent out.
Wilkinson’s law firm told the court, “The officer would have signed the ticket, but an affidavit is not signed unless the citation is presented to the municipal court clerk.”
That is a false claim made under oath in federal court documents.
In an apparent effort to downplay the legal weight of the citations, the city told the court no affidavit was signed unless the case went to court. But GC Wire reviewed the actual citation issued to Amy Divine — and the truth is undeniable.
At the bottom of the citation, it states in bold:
“Sworn to and subscribed before me this date,” followed by a signature line signed by Officer Michael J. Ducote and his badge number (401), beneath a printed court case number and the Ocean Springs Police Department letterhead. “The affiant herein, being duly sworn, depose and say…”
This wasn’t just signed — it was explicitly sworn, under oath, as an affidavit.
And it wasn’t just included on Divine’s citation. By all available evidence, this was standard for all Securix-generated citations in Ocean Springs.
Why This Matters
The city’s legal team — the same law firm that claimed it had recused itself from Securix-related matters — told a federal court something that is demonstrably false. They also implied the city used the court system for the tickets, which we now know they did not.
This misstatement may constitute a material misrepresentation in federal litigation, a serious matter under both civil procedure and ethical rules governing attorneys.
More importantly, it underscores the consistent pattern of misdirection used to obscure the unlawful nature of the Ocean Springs program – to residents and even federal courts.
A Time for Accountability
From the very beginning, Securix wasn’t just a city project — it was a Robert Wilkinson project.
It was Wilkinson, in his capacity as City Attorney, who first introduced the Securix program to Ocean Springs officials. He helped pitch it, helped write the initial contract, and guided the program through the approval process. But Wilkinson didn’t just want Ocean Springs to adopt the program — he needed it to succeed.
Ocean Springs was intended to be the “model city,” the proof-of-concept Wilkinson and his business partners could use to market the system to other municipalities across Mississippi. That meant it couldn’t just function — it had to be profitable for both the city and Securix.
Court proceedings — with their legal rights, delays, and unpredictability — got in the way of that.
In a 2023 email to Securix Chairman Jonathan Miller, Wilkinson made his motives plain:
“If the City of Ocean Springs terminates its contract, it will be virtually impossible to get another city in Mississippi.”
Translation (and motive): the entire statewide rollout depended on Ocean Springs appearing successful.
But under the contract’s original terms, success wasn’t guaranteed. If an alleged offender chose to go to court — where charges might be dismissed, reduced, or thrown out — neither the city (nor Securix) made money. And that made the program harder to sell elsewhere.
So Wilkinson pushed for changes – and convinced elected officials to go along.
The end result was an illegally run money grab and a city full of residents demanding answers.
Presently, the money collected through the illegally run operation remains frozen — and Robert Wilkinson’s law firm remains in place as the City Attorney for Ocean Springs. But with a new Board and mayor set to take office on July 1, residents now have a chance to demand accountability — and bring the good ol’ boy system down for good.
