House Bill 1301

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT TO CLARIFY THAT PUBLIC ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS NOT EXEMPT UNDER THE ACT, EVEN THOUGH CONTAINED IN PROPRIETARY, SENSITIVE OR OTHER SOFTWARE, WILL NOT BE DIMINISHED BECAUSE COMPONENTS OF DATA ARE STORED IN A CERTAIN MANNER; TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT WHEN A PERSON DENIES ACCESS TO A PUBLIC RECORD THAT IS NOT EXEMPT UNDER THE ACT, THE CIVIL PENALTY MAY BE IMPOSED ON THAT PERSON IN HIS PERSONAL CAPACITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 25-61-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-61-9. (1) Records furnished to public bodies by third parties which contain trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information shall not be subject to inspection, examination, copying or reproduction under this chapter until notice to said third parties has been given, but such records shall be released within a reasonable period of time unless the said third parties shall have obtained a court order protecting such records as confidential.

(2) If any public record which is held to be exempt from disclosure pursuant to this chapter contains material which is not exempt pursuant to this chapter, the public body shall separate the exempt material and make the nonexempt material available for examination and/or copying as provided for in this chapter.

(3) Trade secrets and confidential commercial and financial information of a proprietary nature developed by a college or university under contract with a firm, business, partnership, association, corporation, individual or other like entity shall not be subject to inspection, examination, copying or reproduction under this chapter.

(4) Misappropriation of a trade secret shall be governed by the provisions of the Mississippi Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Sections 75-26-1 through 75-26-19.

(5) A waste minimization plan and any updates developed by generators and facility operators under the Mississippi Comprehensive Multimedia Waste Minimization Act of 1990 shall be retained at the facility and shall not be subject to inspection, examination, copying or reproduction under this chapter.

(6) Data processing software obtained by an agency under a licensing agreement that prohibits its disclosure and which software is a trade secret, as defined in Section 75-26-3, and data processing software produced by a public body which is sensitive * * *~~must~~, shall not be subject to inspection, copying or reproduction under this chapter.

As used in this subsection, "sensitive" means only those portions of data processing software, including the specifications and documentation, used to:

(a) Collect, process, store, and retrieve information which is exempt under this chapter.

(b) Control and direct access authorizations and security measures for automated systems.

(c) Collect, process, store, and retrieve information, disclosure of which would require a significant intrusion into the business of the public body.

(7) If the public body's proprietary, sensitive or other software contains information which is not exempt under this chapter, and the software has the capacity to create an electronic copy of a public record, then the following shall apply:

(a) A single record comprising fields of data stored in two (2) or more files, tables or databases, upon request, shall be provided as one (1) complete record per line, such as a comma-separated value file (CSV), fixed-length file, tab-delimited file, or similar flat file.

(b) A request for fewer than all the data fields contained in a single record or that identifies data fields for redaction to minimize the risk of breaching privacy shall not be treated as a request for a format different than the format in which the records are stored or maintained.

SECTION 2. Section 25-61-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-61-15. Any person who shall deny to any person access to any public record which is not exempt from the provisions of this chapter may be liable civilly in his or her personal capacity in a sum not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per violation, plus all reasonable expenses incurred by such person bringing the proceeding.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.