Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has called for a Texas Rangers investigation into Texas Southern University (TSU) following damning findings from a state audit that uncovered thousands of unauthorized invoices totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds.
Patrick announced the move Monday on X, citing “very disturbing information suggesting the misuse of state funds” at the publicly funded institution.
“Today, I called for a Texas Rangers investigation of Texas Southern University after learning very disturbing information suggesting the misuse of state funds.
The State Auditor identified thousands of unauthorized invoices totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Those accountable must be held responsible. I don’t want one more taxpayer dollar spent until this is resolved.”
According to Patrick, the Texas State Auditor’s Office has been conducting a months-long review of TSU’s financial processes, procurement operations, and inventory records.
According to State Auditor Lisa R. Collier’s letter on Monday, the audit identified thousands of invoices totaling more than $400 million that were either tied to expired contracts or received before their official requisition dates.
- 743 invoices totaling approximately $282.2 million for vendors whose contracts were listed in the contract database as expired.
- 8,144 invoices totaling approximately $158 million with invoice dates prior to
their requisition dates.