MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Judiciary B

By: Representatives Fredericks, Clarke, Thomas

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-319, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE REQUIREMENT THAT ALL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE (911) CALLS AND TAPES CONTAINING RECORDS OF SUCH CALLS BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL; TO MAKE SUCH RECORDS AVAILABLE FOR ACCOUNTABILITY PURPOSES; 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 data base 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 tapes containing records of the emergency telephone calls, shall remain confidential and used only for the purposes as may be needed for law enforcement, fire medical rescue or other emergency services. These calls shall not be released to any other parties without court order or subpoena from a court of competent jurisdiction.

(3) PSAP shall release any records necessary to establish accountability for the emergency 911 telephone service calls and responses to calls including number of calls, number of responses, response times, number of times minimum standards are exceeded, disposition of calls, nature of call, time of day of call, date of call, number of complaints made regarding 911 service. Requests for release of records must be made in writing and must specify the information desired.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2000.