Mississippi FOIA procedures

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Each state varies slightly in the procedures used to gain access to public documents. This article serves to describe specifically the steps used in Mississippi. To read the history and details of Mississippi’s sunshine laws please see Mississippi Public Records Act

How to request public records in Mississippi

Public records requests are to be sent to the public agency in possession of the records. Agencies are not required by law to designate official public records custodians.

Purpose and use

A statement of purpose is not required for public records requests, and there are no restrictions placed on the use of records.

Who may request public records?

See also: List of who can make public record requests by state

Anyone may request access to Mississippi's public documents. "[P]ublic records must be available for inspection by any person". ^[1]

Fees

See also: How much do public records cost?

Mississippi law allows for the charging of fees to include both the physical cost of duplication as well as labor costs associated with the search, compilation and duplication of materials.^[2]

Response time

See also: Request response times by state

Mississippi law states that, if not decided upon by the individual department, departments have 1 working day to respond to PRA requests. However, departments may establish their own time limits of up to fourteen working days. ^[3]

Exemptions

See also

• Mississippi Public Records Act
• Mississippi Open Meetings Act

External links

• Mississippi Statutes for Public Records, search for Title 25, Chapter 61. For Open Meetings, search for Title 25, Chapter 41.
• Open Government Guide to Mississippi

References

	v • d • e State of Mississippi Jackson (capital)
Transparency	Public Records Act | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | Transparency blogs | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations |
Divisions	State | List of Counties | List of Cities | List of School Districts | Evaluation of county websites | Evaluation of city websites | Evaluation of school district websites |
Government	Mississippi State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate |
Judiciary	Mississippi Supreme Court | Supreme Court Elections | District Courts | Judicial Nominating Commission | Judicial news | Judicial activist organizations |
Ballot Measures	2008 ballot measures | List of ballot measures | Procedures for qualifying an initiative | Amending the constitution | History of direct democracy | Campaign finance requirements |