Mississippi Doxxing Prevention Act; create to prevent release of personal information with intent to harass.

H. B. No. 704 *HR26/R737* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2
26/HR26/R737
PAGE 1 (GT\KW)

To: Judiciary A;
Accountability, Efficiency,
Transparency
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representatives Hulum, Bell (65th),
Clark, Foster, Hines, Osborne

HOUSE BILL NO. 704

AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI DOXXING PREVENTION ACT; TO 1
PROHIBIT THE INTENTIONAL AND WILLFUL DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL 2
INFORMATION OF CERTAIN PERSONS; TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-12, 3
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXEMPT THE INFORMATION OF CERTAIN 4
PERSONS FROM THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 5
13-5-16, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REGULATES THE RANDOM 6
DRAWING OF JURORS, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED 7
PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. (1) This bill shall be known and may be cited as 10
the "Mississippi Doxxing Prevention Act." 11
(2) For purposes of this act, the following words shall have 12
the meanings described herein: 13
(a) "Covered person" means: 14
(i) Any law enforcement officer of any state 15
agency, hospital, county, municipality, public two-year or 16
four-year college or university and any extension thereof in the 17
State of Mississippi; 18
(ii) An officer or employee of the State of 19
Mississippi, or any officer or employee of any county, 20
H. B. No. 704 *HR26/R737* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/HR26/R737
PAGE 2 (GT\KW)

municipality, or political subdivision of the State of 21
Mississippi; 22
(iii) A grand or petit juror, witness, or other 23
officer in or of, any court of the State of Mississippi, or an 24
officer who may be, or was, serving at any proceeding before any 25
court of the State of Mississippi; or 26
(iv) An informant or witness in a criminal 27
investigation or prosecution. 28
(b) "Crime of violence" means a crime specified in 29
Section 97-3-2. 30
(c) "Close relation" means a current or former spouse 31
or domestic partner, a parent, a stepparent, a child, a stepchild, 32
a sibling, a grandparent, any person who regularly resides in the 33
household or who within the prior six (6) months regularly resided 34
in the household, or any person with a significant personal or 35
professional relationship. 36
(d) "Restricted personal information" means, with 37
respect to an individual, the Social Security number, the home 38
address, home phone number, mobile phone number, personal email, 39
or home fax number of, and identifiable to, that individual. 40
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly make 41
public any restricted personal information about a covered person, 42
or a close relation of that covered person: 43
H. B. No. 704 *HR26/R737* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/HR26/R737
PAGE 3 (GT\KW)

(a) With the intent to harass, threaten, intimidate, or 44
incite the commission of a crime against that covered person, or a 45
close relation of that covered person; or 46
(b) With the intent and knowledge that the restricted 47
personal information will be used to harass, threaten, intimidate, 48
or facilitate the commission of nonviolent a crime against that 49
covered person, or a close relation of that covered person, shall, 50
upon conviction for a first offense, be guilty of a misdemeanor, 51
and fined not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), 52
imprisoned in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or 53
both. For a second or subsequent conviction, the person shall be 54
guilty of a felony and punished by a fine of not more than Ten 55
Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) or by imprisonment in the custody of 56
the Mississippi Department of Corrections for not more than five 57
(5) years, or both. 58
(c) If the crime against the covered person is a crime 59
of violence, as specified by Section 97-3-2, then the punishment 60
shall not be more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), 61
imprisonment by not more than ten (10) years, or both. 62
SECTION 2. Section 25-61-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 63
amended as follows: 64
25-61-12. (1) The home address, any telephone number of a 65
privately paid account or other private information of any law 66
enforcement officer, criminal investigator, judge or district 67
attorney, or the spouse or child of the law enforcement officer, 68
H. B. No. 704 *HR26/R737* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/HR26/R737
PAGE 4 (GT\KW)

criminal investigator, judge * * *, district attorney or covered 69
person as defined by Section 1 of this act, shall be exempt from 70
the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. This exemption does 71
not apply to any court transcript or recording if given under oath 72
and not otherwise excluded by law. 73
(2) (a) When in the possession of a law enforcement agency, 74
investigative reports shall be exempt from the provisions of this 75
chapter; however, a law enforcement agency, in its discretion, may 76
choose to make public all or any part of any investigative report. 77
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 78
prevent any and all public bodies from having among themselves a 79
free flow of information for the purpose of achieving a 80
coordinated and effective detection and investigation of unlawful 81
activity. Where the confidentiality of records covered by this 82
section is being determined in a private hearing before a judge 83
under Section 25-61-13, the public body may redact or separate 84
from the records the identity of confidential informants or the 85
identity of the person or persons under investigation or other 86
information other than the nature of the incident, time, date and 87
location. 88
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 89
exempt from public disclosure a law enforcement incident report. 90
An incident report shall be a public record. A law enforcement 91
agency may release information in addition to the information 92
contained in the incident report. 93
H. B. No. 704 *HR26/R737* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/HR26/R737
PAGE 5 (GT\KW)

(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 94
require the disclosure of information that would reveal the 95
identity of the victim. 96
(3) Personal information of victims, including victim impact 97
statements and letters of support on behalf of victims that are 98
contained in records on file with the Mississippi Department of 99
Corrections and State Parole Board, shall be exempt from the 100
provisions of this chapter. 101
(4) Records of a public hospital board relating to the 102
purchase or sale of medical or other practices or other business 103
operations, and the recruitment of physicians and other health 104
care professionals, shall be exempt from the provisions of this 105
chapter. 106
(5) All "restricted personal information" of a "covered 107
person" as the terms are defined in Section 1 of this act shall be 108
exempt from the provisions of this chapter. 109
SECTION 3. Section 13-5-16, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 110
brought forward as follows: 111
13-5-16. (1) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (2) 112
of this section, from time to time and in a manner prescribed by 113
the court, a private citizen who does not have an interest in a 114
case pending trial and who is not a practicing attorney publicly 115
shall draw at random from the jury wheel the names or identifying 116
numbers of as many prospective jurors as the court by order 117
requires. The clerk shall prepare an alphabetical list of the 118
H. B. No. 704 *HR26/R737* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/HR26/R737
PAGE 6 (GT\KW)
ST: Mississippi Doxxing Prevention Act; create
to prevent release of personal information with
intent to harass.
names drawn. Neither the names drawn nor the list shall be 119
disclosed to any person other than pursuant to this chapter or 120
specific order of the court. 121
(2) The court may order that the drawing of names or 122
identifying numbers pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may 123
be performed by random selection of a computer or electronic 124
device pursuant to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed 125
by the court. 126
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 127
and after July 1, 2026. 128