MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Judiciary A
By: Representatives Hulum, Bell (65th), James-Jones, Bailey, Banks, Boyd (19th), Brown, Butler-Washington, Carpenter, Clark, Crudup, Fondren, Gibbs (72nd), Grady, Hall, Haney, Hawkins, Hines, Hobgood-Wilkes, Holloway (27th), Holloway (76th), Johnson, Keen, McCray, Newman, Sanders, Shanks, Summers, Thompson, Yancey, Zuber
AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI DOXXING PREVENTION ACT; TO PROHIBIT THE INTENTIONAL AND WILLFUL DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF CERTAIN PERSONS; TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-12, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXEMPT THE INFORMATION OF CERTAIN PERSONS FROM THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 13-5-16, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REGULATES THE RANDOM DRAWING OF JURORS, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) This bill shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Doxxing Prevention Act."
(2) For purposes of this act, the following words shall have the meanings described herein:
(a) "Covered person" means:
(i) Any law enforcement officer of any state agency, hospital, county, municipality, public two-year or four-year college or university and any extension thereof in the State of Mississippi;
(ii) An officer or employee of the State of Mississippi, or any officer or employee of any county, municipality, or political subdivision of the State of Mississippi;
(iii) A grand or petit juror, witness, or other officer in or of, any court of the State of Mississippi, or an officer who may be, or was, serving at any proceeding before any court of the State of Mississippi; or
(iv) An informant or witness in a criminal investigation or prosecution.
(b) "Crime of violence" means a crime specified in Section 97-3-2.
(c) "Close relation" means a current or former spouse or domestic partner, a parent, a stepparent, a child, a stepchild, a sibling, a grandparent, any person who regularly resides in the household or who within the prior six (6) months regularly resided in the household, or any person with a significant personal or professional relationship.
(d) "Restricted personal information" means, with respect to an individual, the Social Security number, the home address, home phone number, mobile phone number, personal email, or home fax number of, and identifiable to, that individual.
(3) Whoever knowingly makes restricted personal information about a covered person, or a close relation of that covered person, publicly available:
(a) With the intent to harass, threaten, intimidate, or incite the commission of a crime against that covered person, or a close relation of that covered person; or
(b) With the intent and knowledge that the restricted personal information will be used to harass, threaten, intimidate, or facilitate the commission of nonviolent a crime against that covered person, or a close relation of that covered person, shall, upon conviction for a first offense, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), imprisoned in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both. For a second or subsequent conviction, the person shall be guilty of a felony and punished by a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) or by imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years, or both.
(c) If the crime against the covered person is a crime of violence, as specified by Section 97-3-2, then the punishment shall not be more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), imprisonment by not more than ten (10) years, or both.
SECTION 2. 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 * * *, district attorney or covered
person as defined by Section 1 of this act, 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) All "restricted personal information" of a "covered person" as the terms are defined in Section 1 of this act shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
SECTION 3. Section 13-5-16, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
13-5-16. (1) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (2) of this section, from time to time and in a manner prescribed by the court, a private citizen who does not have an interest in a case pending trial and who is not a practicing attorney publicly shall draw at random from the jury wheel the names or identifying numbers of as many prospective jurors as the court by order requires. The clerk shall prepare an alphabetical list of the names drawn. Neither the names drawn nor the list shall be disclosed to any person other than pursuant to this chapter or specific order of the court.
(2) The court may order that the drawing of names or identifying numbers pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may be performed by random selection of a computer or electronic device pursuant to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the court.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.