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Mississippi: The Secret State  

Despite sunshine laws, Mississippi government often surrounded by secrecy

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS and DAN DAVIS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS and HATTIESBURG AMERICAN

JACKSON --

But some law enforcement officials are reluctant to release details about an incident even to relatives of those involved.

Hattiesburg insurance agent Eddie Stephenson has tried to find out details about the Feb. 4, 2005, death of his son, Matthew, who wrecked his vehicle while being chased by Lamar County deputies. The father has been blocked because the state's Open Records law does not specifically require the public release of investigative records.

After the wreck, Stephenson requested radio and dispatch logs and accident and investigative reports. Lamar County officials refused.

"I feel like my civil rights have been violated because they won't give me this information," Stephenson said.

He spent more than two years fighting for the logs and reports, including filing a lawsuit which was settled last year. Part of the agreement was that details of the settlement would not be disclosed.

Mississippi laws already say that most meetings of taxpayer-supported groups such as city councils or boards of supervisors are supposed to be open to the public if a quorum of the board is present. But some boards find ways to circumvent those rules by having a series of back-to-back meetings without a quorum - on a five-member board, the members will meet two at a time.

State Rep. Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville, said he has also noticed a trend among local government boards in his part of the state: "I've seen a lot more executive sessions than I did 16 years ago."

Russell Turner is editor of the Greene County Herald, a weekly newspaper based in Leakesville in southeastern Mississippi. For the past several years, he has covered disputes between the county supervisors and the trustees of the publicly owned Greene County Hospital. He said nobody has tried to stop him from attending the public meetings, but there are other problems.

"We struggle from not what's done in the board meetings but what is done in the shadows," Turner said.

He said he has noticed that officials sometimes can publicly argue for weeks - then they suddenly resolve their differences out of public view.

"Clearly, some back-room dealings are going on," said Turner, who believes such problems are not limited to Greene County.

He said Mississippi's sunshine laws have "no teeth." In 2003, the state set a $100 fine for public bodies that intentionally violate the Open Meetings law. Turner says that's a pittance for public officials who want to circumvent the law.

"Who's going to catch them?" Turner said. "If you do catch them, who's going to care about a $100 fine?"

Emily Wagster Pettus of The Associated Press reported from Jackson, and Dan Davis of the Hattiesburg American reported from Hattiesburg.