MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Marine Resources
By: Representative Ladner
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-12, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT RECORDS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES RELATING TO CERTAIN APPLICATIONS FOR AND SALES OF ANY RESIDENT OR NONRESIDENT LICENSES AND RECORDS RELATING TO THE HOLDERS OF SUCH LICENSES SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM THE MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC RECORDS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-61-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-61-12. (1) The home address, any telephone number of a privately paid account or other private information of any law enforcement officer, criminal investigator, judge or district attorney or the spouse or child of the law enforcement officer, criminal investigator, judge or district attorney shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. This exemption does not apply to any court transcript or recording if given under oath and not otherwise excluded by law.
(2) (a) When in the possession of a law enforcement agency, investigative reports shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter; however, a law enforcement agency, in its discretion, may choose to make public all or any part of any investigative report.
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent any and all public bodies from having among themselves a free flow of information for the purpose of achieving a coordinated and effective detection and investigation of unlawful activity. Where the confidentiality of records covered by this section is being determined in a private hearing before a judge under Section 25-61-13, the public body may redact or separate from the records the identity of confidential informants or the identity of the person or persons under investigation or other information other than the nature of the incident, time, date and location.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to exempt from public disclosure a law enforcement incident report. An incident report shall be a public record. A law enforcement agency may release information in addition to the information contained in the incident report.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require the disclosure of information that would reveal the identity of the victim.
(3) Personal information of victims, including victim impact statements and letters of support on behalf of victims that are contained in records on file with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and State Parole Board, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
(4) Records of a public hospital board relating to the purchase or sale of medical or other practices or other business operations, and the recruitment of physicians and other health care professionals, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
(5) Records of the Department of Marine Resources relating to applications for and sales of any resident or nonresident licenses issued pursuant to Chapter 7, Title 49, Mississippi Code of 1972, and records relating to the holders of such licenses shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. Such records shall be released only upon order of a court having proper jurisdiction over a petition for release of the record(s); however, upon request, such records shall be available to all law enforcement agencies.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.