Mississippi FOIA procedures
| Mississippi FOIA procedures |
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| FOIA laws in Mississippi |
| Freedom of Information Act |
| Court cases with an impact on state FOIA |
| FOIA procedures by state |
Each state has laws governing public access to governmental records. These laws are sometimes known as open records laws, public records laws, or FOIA laws after the federal Freedom of Information Act. These FOIA laws define the procedures that people can use to obtain access to these records.
This article describes FOIA procedures in Mississippi as of May 2025. On this page you will find:
- How to request public records
- Who may request public records
- Fees associated with public records requests
- Required response times for requests
- Exemptions to public records requests
How to request public records in Mississippi
According to Section 25-61-1 of the Public Records Act, public records requests are to be sent to the public agency in possession of the records. Agencies are not required by law to designate official public records custodians.[1]
Purpose and use
A statement of purpose is not required for public records requests except in the case of determining fees, and there are no restrictions placed on the use of records. According to Section 25-61-7 of the Public Records Act:[2]
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In determining the fees or charges under this subsection, the public body may consider the type of information requested, the purpose or purposes for which the information has been requested and the commercial value of the information.[3] |
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Who may request public records?
Anyone may request access to Mississippi's public documents. According to the Section 25-61-5 of the Mississippi Public Records Act, "[A]ny person shall have the right to inspect, copy or mechanically reproduce or obtain a reproduction of any public record of a public body in accordance with reasonable written procedures adopted by the public body.[4]
Mississippi is among 42 states that do not require individuals requesting public records to be state residents.
Fees
- See also: How much do public records cost?
Mississippi law allows for the charging of fees to include both the physical cost of duplication as well as labor costs associated with the search, compilation and duplication of materials. According to Section 25-61-7 of the Mississippi Public Records Act:[2]
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Response time
- See also: Request response times by state
Mississippi law states that, if not decided upon by the individual department, departments have one working day to respond to PRA requests. However, departments may establish their own time limits of up to 14 working days. According to Section 25-61-5 of the Mississippi Public Records Act:[4]
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(a) Except as otherwise provided by Sections 25-61-9 and 25-61-11, all public records are hereby declared to be public property, and any person shall have the right to inspect, copy or mechanically reproduce or obtain a reproduction of any public record of a public body in accordance with reasonable written procedures adopted by the public body concerning the cost, time, place and method of access, and public notice of the procedures shall be given by the public body, or, if a public body has not adopted written procedures, the right to inspect, copy or mechanically reproduce or obtain a reproduction of a public record of the public body shall be provided within one (1) working day after a written request for a public record is made. No public body shall adopt procedures which will authorize the public body to produce or deny production of a public record later than seven (7) working days from the date of the receipt of the request for the production of the record. (b) If a public body is unable to produce a public record by the seventh working day after the request is made, the public body must provide a written explanation to the person making the request stating that the record requested will be produced and specifying with particularity why the records cannot be produced within the seven-day period. Unless there is mutual agreement of the parties, or the information requested is part of ongoing negotiations related to a request for competitive sealed proposals, in no event shall the date for the public body's production of the requested records be any later than fourteen (14) working days from the receipt by the public body of the original request. Production of competitive sealed proposals in accordance with requests made pursuant to this section shall be no later than seven (7) working days after the notice of intent to award is issued to the winning proposer. Persons making a request for production of competitive sealed proposals after the notice of intent to award is issued by the public body shall have a reasonable amount of time, but in no event less than seven (7) working days after the production of the competitive sealed proposals, to protest the procurement or intended award prior to contract execution.[3] |
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As of May 2025, 11 states had no mandated response time. Of the 39 states with response time limits, 12 allow agencies to extend response times in certain cases, while 27 allow no exceptions. Eight states required responses in three days or fewer, 11 in five days or fewer, 13 in 10 days or fewer, and seven in 20 days or fewer.
Exemptions
The Mississippi Public Record act exempts some forms of information from public access, and other statutes may preclude a person from accessing certain records from certain public bodies. Section 25-61-11 and 25-61-12 list exceptions:[5]
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§ 25-61-11. Exempted or Privileged Records The provisions of this chapter shall not be construed to conflict with, amend, repeal or supersede any constitutional law, state or federal statutory law, or decision of a court of this state or the United States which at the time of this chapter is effective or thereafter specifically declares a public record to be confidential or privileged, or provides that a public record shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. § 25-61-11.1 Exempted or Private Information of Persons Possessing a Weapon Permit The name, home address, any telephone number or other private information of any person who possesses a weapon permit issued under Section 45-9-101 or Section 97-37-7 shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. § 25-61-11.2 Exempted for Certain Information Technology Records The following information technology (IT) records shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983: (a) IT infrastructure details, including network architecture, schematics, and IT system designs; (b) Source code; (c) Detailed hardware and software inventories; (d) Security plans; (e) Vulnerability reports; (f) Security risk assessment details; (g) Security compliance reports; (h) Authentication credentials; (i) Security policies and processes; (j) Security incident reports; and (k) Any audit, assessment, compliance report, work papers or any combination of these that if disclosed could allow unauthorized access to the state’s IT assets. § 25-61-12. Personal Information of Law Enforcement or Court Personnel and Officers; Exemption from Public Records Act; Exception (1) The home address, any telephone number of a privately paid account or other private information of any law enforcement officer, criminal investigator, judge or district attorney or the spouse or child of the law enforcement officer, criminal investigator, judge or district attorney shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. This exemption does not apply to any court transcript or recording if given under oath and not otherwise excluded by law. (2) (a) When in the possession of a law enforcement agency, investigative reports shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter; however, a law enforcement agency, in its discretion, may choose to make public all or any part of any investigative report. (b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent any and all public bodies from having among themselves a free flow of information for the purpose of achieving a coordinated and effective detection and investigation of unlawful activity. Where the confidentiality of records covered by this section is being determined in a private hearing before a judge under Section 25-61-13, the public body may redact or separate from the records the identity of confidential informants or the identity of the person or persons under investigation or other information other than the nature of the incident, time, date and location. (c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to exempt from public disclosure a law enforcement incident report. An incident report shall be a public record. A law enforcement agency may release information in addition to the information contained in the incident report. (d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require the disclosure of information that would reveal the identity of the victim. (3) Personal information of victims, including victim impact statements and letters of support on behalf of victims that are contained in records on file with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and State Parole Board, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. (4) Records of a public hospital board relating to the purchase or sale of medical or other practices or other business operations, and the recruitment of physicians and other health care professionals, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.[3] |
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See also
External links
- Mississippi Public Records Act
- Open Government Guide to Mississippi
- Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Footnotes
- ↑ Mississippi Ethics Commission, "The Public Records Act," accessed May 12, 2025 (Sec. 25-61-1)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mississippi Ethics Commission, "The Public Records Act," accessed May 12, 2025 (Sec. 25-61-7)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mississippi Ethics Commission, "The Public Records Act," accessed May 12, 2025 (Sec. 25-61-5)
- ↑ Lexis Nexis, "Mississippi Code Public Access," accessed May 12, 2025 (Sec. 25-61-11, 25-61-11.1, 25-61-11.2)
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