Public records; exempt personally identifiable information from disclosure requirements for.

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To: Accountability,
Efficiency, Transparency
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Anderson (122nd)

HOUSE BILL NO. 1468
(As Passed the House)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
DEFINE PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION AND PROTECTED 2
PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION AS USED IN THE MISSISSIPPI 3
PUBLIC RECORDS ACT OF 1983; TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-12, MISSISSIPPI 4
CODE OF 1972, TO EXEMPT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION AND 5
PROTECTED PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION FROM THE 6
REQUIREMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC RECORDS ACT OF 1983; AND 7
FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. Section 25-61-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 10
amended as follows: 11
25-61-3. The following words shall have the meanings 12
ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise: 13
(a) "Public body" shall mean any department, bureau, 14
division, council, commission, committee, subcommittee, board, 15
agency and any other entity of the state or a political 16
subdivision thereof, and any municipal corporation and any other 17
entity created by the Constitution or by law, executive order, 18
ordinance or resolution. The term "public body" includes the 19
governing board of a charter school authorized by the Mississippi 20
Charter School Authorizer Board. Within the meaning of this 21
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chapter, the term "entity" shall not be construed to include 22
individuals employed by a public body or any appointed or elected 23
public official. 24
(b) "Public records" shall mean all books, records, 25
papers, accounts, letters, maps, photographs, films, cards, tapes, 26
recordings or reproductions thereof, and any other documentary 27
materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, having 28
been used, being in use, or prepared, possessed or retained for 29
use in the conduct, transaction or performance of any business, 30
transaction, work, duty or function of any public body, or 31
required to be maintained by any public body. "Public records" 32
shall not mean "personal information" as defined in Section 33
25-62-1. 34
(c) "Data processing software" means the programs and 35
routines used to employ and control the capabilities of data 36
processing hardware, including, but not limited to, operating 37
systems, compilers, assemblers, utilities, library routines, 38
maintenance routines, applications and computer networking 39
programs. 40
(d) "Proprietary software" means data processing 41
software that is obtained under a licensing agreement and is 42
protected by copyright or trade secret laws. 43
(e) "Incident report" means a narrative description, if 44
such narrative description exists and if such narrative 45
description does not contain investigative information, of an 46
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alleged offense, and at a minimum shall include the name and 47
identification of each person charged with and arrested for the 48
alleged offense, the time, date and location of the alleged 49
offense, and the property involved, to the extent this information 50
is known. 51
(f) "Investigative report" means records of a law 52
enforcement agency containing information beyond the scope of the 53
matters contained in an incident report, and generally will 54
include, but not be limited to, the following matters if beyond 55
the scope of the matters contained in an incident report: 56
(i) Records that are compiled in the process of 57
detecting and investigating any unlawful activity or alleged 58
unlawful activity, the disclosure of which would harm the 59
investigation which may include crime scene reports and 60
demonstrative evidence; 61
(ii) Records that would reveal the identity of 62
informants and/or witnesses; 63
(iii) Records that would prematurely release 64
information that would impede the public body's enforcement, 65
investigative or detection efforts; 66
(iv) Records that would disclose investigatory 67
techniques and/or results of investigative techniques; 68
(v) Records that would deprive a person of a right 69
to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication; 70
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(vi) Records that would endanger the life or 71
safety of a public official or law enforcement personnel, or 72
confidential informants or witnesses; 73
(vii) Records pertaining to quality control or 74
PEER review activities; or 75
(viii) Records that would impede or jeopardize a 76
prosecutor's ability to prosecute the alleged offense. 77
(g) "Law enforcement agency" means a public body that 78
performs as one (1) of its principal functions activities 79
pertaining to the enforcement of criminal laws, the apprehension 80
and investigation of criminal offenders, or the investigation of 81
criminal activities. 82
(h) "Personally identifiable information" or "PII" 83
means information that can be used to distinguish or trace an 84
individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other 85
personal or identifying information that is linked or linkable to 86
a specific individual. The definition of PII is not anchored to 87
any single category of information or technology. Rather, it 88
requires a case-by-case assessment of the specific risk that an 89
individual can be identified. Nonpersonally identifying 90
information can become PII whenever additional information is made 91
publicly available, in any medium and from any source, that when 92
combined with other available information, could be used to 93
identify an individual. 94
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(i) "Protected personally identifiable information" or 95
"protected PII" means an individual's first name or first initial 96
and last name in combination with additional information, 97
including, but not limited to, an individual's: 98
(i) Social security number; 99
(ii) Home address; 100
(iii) Driver's license number; 101
(iv) Date and place of birth; 102
(v) Home or personal phone number; 103
(vi) Financial account number; 104
(vii) Personnel record and application of 105
employment; 106
(viii) Information that would disclose the 107
individual's tax return or status; 108
(ix) Application for licensure in the possession 109
of a public body; 110
(x) Passport number; 111
(xi) Mother's maiden name; 112
(xii) Criminal, medical or financial record; or 113
(xiii) Educational transcript. 114
SECTION 2. Section 25-61-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 115
amended as follows: 116
25-61-12. (1) The home address, any telephone number of a 117
privately paid account or other private information of any law 118
enforcement officer, criminal investigator, judge or district 119
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attorney, or the spouse or child of the law enforcement officer, 120
criminal investigator, judge or district attorney, shall be exempt 121
from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. This exemption 122
does not apply to any court transcript or recording if given under 123
oath and not otherwise excluded by law. 124
(2) (a) When in the possession of a law enforcement agency, 125
investigative reports shall be exempt from the provisions of this 126
chapter; however, a law enforcement agency, in its discretion, may 127
choose to make public all or any part of any investigative report. 128
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 129
prevent any and all public bodies from having among themselves a 130
free flow of information for the purpose of achieving a 131
coordinated and effective detection and investigation of unlawful 132
activity. Where the confidentiality of records covered by this 133
section is being determined in a private hearing before a judge 134
under Section 25-61-13, the public body may redact or separate 135
from the records the identity of confidential informants or the 136
identity of the person or persons under investigation or other 137
information other than the nature of the incident, time, date and 138
location. 139
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 140
exempt from public disclosure a law enforcement incident report. 141
An incident report shall be a public record. A law enforcement 142
agency may release information in addition to the information 143
contained in the incident report. 144
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ST: Public records; exempt personally
identifiable information from disclosure
requirements for.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 145
require the disclosure of information that would reveal the 146
identity of the victim. 147
(3) Personal information of victims, including victim impact 148
statements and letters of support on behalf of victims that are 149
contained in records on file with the Mississippi Department of 150
Corrections and State Parole Board, shall be exempt from the 151
provisions of this chapter. 152
(4) Records of a public hospital board relating to the 153
purchase or sale of medical or other practices or other business 154
operations, and the recruitment of physicians and other health 155
care professionals, shall be exempt from the provisions of this 156
chapter. 157
(5) Protected personally identifiable information and other 158
personally identifying information as defined in Section 25-61-3 159
shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. 160
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 161
and after July 1, 2026, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2026. 162