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Mississippi: The Secret State  

Mississippi open-government laws full of exemptions that allow secrecy

By CHARLIE MITCHELL
VICKSBURG POST

VICKSBURG --

Few push back against the rising tide of exceptions, which are continually being sought by local governments, state agencies and niche groups, he conceded. There are bigger fish to fry, so to speak.

And more exceptions along with overbroad interpretations and confusing language have greatly eroded the purpose of openness legislation. It was created, the legislation itself says, on the premise that the authority to govern comes from the people and people can't consent if they don't know what's going on.

As for the hunting records exception, digging elsewhere in the code reveals there are stipulations that seem to conflict with blanket closure. Also, after realizing what it had done about 911 centers, the Legislature repealed almost all the records-sealing language for dispatch centers.

Even long-standing language can be problematic. For instance, on its face, the Public Records Act exempts "records of public bodies primarily engaged in the enforcement of criminal laws."

Delving into opinion letters and court rulings, it becomes clear that the exemption's purpose is to keep police from having to provide witnesses' statements or the names of suspects during investigations. It doesn't apply to payrolls or to arrest reports or, in the view or most, to basic crime.

But a sheriff who doesn't want the public to know about a series of burglaries occurring in a neighborhood could point to the exception and, unless pressed, probably keep a matter of public concern under wraps.

It should also be clear there's more in play here than laws, interpretations of statutory language and opinions, Kerby said.

For one thing, there is the training and experience of clerical and other public employees on how to answer inquiries, especially given turnover in some roles.

A fundamental tenet of the state and U.S. constitutions is that the state cannot incarcerate a person and keep it a secret.

Yet in a 2002 "openness" audit by several public interest groups in Mississippi, 12 volunteers asking for lists of people in their local jails were told that was not public information and another four were told that seeing the docket depended on who was asking. It may not be public information when a person is jailed in China. Here, it's one of the public's clearest rights to know.

As for members of boards and commissions who do receive training about how their public roles differ from a private sector job, Kerby said experience matters.

"Newly elected, first-time officeholders, like other new job folks, seem to shy from the media eye, and more experienced elected officials have learned what is open and what is not. The more experienced then the more surefooted in responding to media requests for information that may be interpreted in more than one way," Kerby said.