House Bill 138

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-319, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE A PUBLIC BODY TO TRANSCRIBE AND RELEASE ANY EMERGENCY TELEPHONE CALL TO THE PUBLIC UPON REQUEST; TO PROVIDE THAT SUCH TRANSCRIPT SHALL BE REDACTED OF ANY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THE SUBJECT OF AN EMERGENCY CALL; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 19-5-319, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-319. (1) Automatic number identification (ANI), automatic location identification (ALI) and geographic automatic location identification (GeoALI) information that consist of the name, address and telephone number of telephone or wireless subscribers shall be confidential, and the dissemination of the information contained in the 911 automatic number and location database is prohibited except for the following purpose: The information will be provided to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) on a call-by-call basis only for the purpose of handling emergency calls or for training, and any permanent record of the information shall be secured by the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and disposed of in a manner which will retain that security, except upon court order or subpoena from a court of competent jurisdiction or as otherwise provided by law.

(2) All emergency telephone calls and telephone call transmissions received pursuant to Section 19-5-301 et seq., and all recordings of the emergency telephone calls, shall remain confidential and shall be used only for the purposes as may be needed for law enforcement, fire, medical rescue or other emergency services. These recordings shall not be released to any other parties without court order or subpoena from a court of competent jurisdiction. A public body, as defined under Section 25-61-3, shall transcribe and release a transcript of any emergency telephone call to the public upon request. The identity of any caller or person or persons who are the subject of any call, or the address, phone number or other identifying information about any such person, shall be redacted from any transcript. Any fee associated with transcribing an emergency telephone call shall be consistent with fees charged under the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. A transcription may be set up by the requesting party at his or her expense.

(3) PSAP and emergency response entities shall maintain and, upon request, release a record of the date of call, time of call, the time the emergency response entity was notified, and the identity of the emergency response entity. The emergency response entity shall maintain and, upon request, release a record of the date and time the call was received by the emergency response entity and the time the emergency response entity arrived on the scene. Requests for release of records must be made in writing and must specify the information desired. Requestors shall pay the cost of providing the information requested in accordance with the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983, Section 25-61-1 et seq. The identity of any caller or person or persons who are the subject of any call, or the address, phone number or other identifying information about any such person, shall not be released except as provided in subsection (2) of this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.