MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: State Affairs; Appropriations A
By: Representative McGee
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-60-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY TO EXPEND FUNDS FROM THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT RECORDS MANAGEMENT FUND TO SUPPORT ITS SERVICES TO COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES RELATED TO RECORDS MANAGEMENT, HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND MUSEUM SERVICES; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 39-5-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-60-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-60-5. (1) Except as
provided in subsection (2) of this section, any county or municipal official or
employee who accepts documents for filing as public records shall, in addition
to any other fee provided elsewhere by law, collect a fee of One Dollar ($1.00)
for each document so filed. In municipalities and counties that collect
Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00) or more per month from the filing fee, the
official or employee collecting the fee shall, on or before the last day of
each month, deposit the avails of Fifty Cents (50¢) of the fee into the general
fund of the county or municipality, as appropriate, and remit the remainder to
the State Treasurer who shall deposit it to the credit of a statewide local
government records management fund which is hereby created in the State
Treasury. In municipalities and counties that collect less than Three
Hundred Dollars ($300.00) per month from the filing fee, the avails of Fifty
Cents (50¢) of the fee shall be remitted to the State Treasurer on a quarterly
basis for deposit as provided in the previous sentence. Any monies remaining
in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the General Fund
of the State Treasury. Counties and municipalities shall expend monies derived
from the fee hereinabove imposed solely to support proper management of their
official records in accordance with records management standards established by
the Department of Archives and History. Monies in the Local Government Records
Management Fund shall be expended by the Department of Archives and History,
pursuant to legislative appropriation, to support the * * * services
to counties and municipalities provided by the Department of Archives and
History related to records management, historic preservation and museum
services.
(2) The fee provided in subsection (1) of this section shall not be collected in any county until the board of supervisors, by resolution spread upon its minutes, determines that it will collect the fee.
(3) Each municipality and participating county may collect the filing fee provided for in this section on filings in any court subject to their respective jurisdiction.
SECTION 2. Section 39-5-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
39-5-9. A Local Government Records Office is established within the Department of Archives and History. The office shall begin operation when sufficient funds therefor have accumulated in the Local Government Records Management Fund established in Section 25-60-5. The office shall have the following powers and duties as well as any others which are prescribed by law elsewhere or assigned to the office by the director of the department:
(a) Provide and coordinate education and training for counties and municipalities on records management issues.
(b) Establish records management standards to guide counties and municipalities, such standards to include, but not be limited to, guidelines for microfilm production and storage, electronic records security and migration, records preservation, imaging and records storage.
(c) Prepare records control schedules for adoption or amendment by the Local Government Records Committee established in Section 25-60-1. In the preparation of the schedules and amendments thereto, the office shall seek input from interested citizens and organizations.
(d) Establish standards for records storage areas of local governmental bodies, such standards to include, but not be limited to, guidelines for the selection of an off-site storage facility for records of enduring or archival value.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.