MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Wiggins
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE TIME BY WHICH RECORDS FURNISHED TO PUBLIC BODIES BY THIRD PARTIES WHICH CONTAIN TRADE SECRETS OR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION SHALL BE RELEASED; 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 third parties has been given, but the records shall be released * * *
no later than twenty-one (21) days from the date the third parties
are given notice by the public body unless the third parties have filed in
chancery court a petition seeking a protective order on or before the
expiration of the twenty-one-day time period. Any party seeking
the protective order shall give notice to the party requesting the information
in accordance with the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
(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 or copying, or both, as provided for in this chapter.
(3) Trade secrets and confidential commercial and financial information of a proprietary nature developed by a college, university or public hospital 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 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) For all procurement contracts awarded by state agencies, the provisions of the contract which contain the commodities purchased or the personal or professional services provided, the price to be paid, and the term of the contract shall not be deemed to be a trade secret or confidential commercial or financial information under this section, and shall be available for examination, copying or reproduction as provided for in this chapter.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.