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To: Accountability,
Efficiency, Transparency
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) DeLano
SENATE BILL NO. 2633
AN ACT TO AMEND THE MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC RECORDS ACT OF 1983 TO 1
PROVIDE EXEMPTIONS FOR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII); 2
TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DEFINE 3
PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION AND PROTECTED PERSONALLY 4
IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION; TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-12, MISSISSIPPI 5
CODE OF 1972, TO EXEMPT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION; AND 6
FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 25-61-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
25-61-3. The following words shall have the meanings 11
ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise: 12
(a) "Public body" shall mean any department, bureau, 13
division, council, commission, committee, subcommittee, board, 14
agency and any other entity of the state or a political 15
subdivision thereof, and any municipal corporation and any other 16
entity created by the Constitution or by law, executive order, 17
ordinance or resolution. The term "public body" includes the 18
governing board of a charter school authorized by the Mississippi 19
Charter School Authorizer Board. Within the meaning of this 20
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chapter, the term "entity" shall not be construed to include 21
individuals employed by a public body or any appointed or elected 22
public official. 23
(b) "Public records" shall mean all books, records, 24
papers, accounts, letters, maps, photographs, films, cards, tapes, 25
recordings or reproductions thereof, and any other documentary 26
materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, having 27
been used, being in use, or prepared, possessed or retained for 28
use in the conduct, transaction or performance of any business, 29
transaction, work, duty or function of any public body, or 30
required to be maintained by any public body. "Public records" 31
shall not mean "personal information" as defined in Section 32
25-62-1. 33
(c) "Data processing software" means the programs and 34
routines used to employ and control the capabilities of data 35
processing hardware, including, but not limited to, operating 36
systems, compilers, assemblers, utilities, library routines, 37
maintenance routines, applications and computer networking 38
programs. 39
(d) "Proprietary software" means data processing 40
software that is obtained under a licensing agreement and is 41
protected by copyright or trade secret laws. 42
(e) "Incident report" means a narrative description, if 43
such narrative description exists and if such narrative 44
description does not contain investigative information, of an 45
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alleged offense, and at a minimum shall include the name and 46
identification of each person charged with and arrested for the 47
alleged offense, the time, date and location of the alleged 48
offense, and the property involved, to the extent this information 49
is known. 50
(f) "Investigative report" means records of a law 51
enforcement agency containing information beyond the scope of the 52
matters contained in an incident report, and generally will 53
include, but not be limited to, the following matters if beyond 54
the scope of the matters contained in an incident report: 55
(i) Records that are compiled in the process of 56
detecting and investigating any unlawful activity or alleged 57
unlawful activity, the disclosure of which would harm the 58
investigation which may include crime scene reports and 59
demonstrative evidence; 60
(ii) Records that would reveal the identity of 61
informants and/or witnesses; 62
(iii) Records that would prematurely release 63
information that would impede the public body's enforcement, 64
investigative or detection efforts; 65
(iv) Records that would disclose investigatory 66
techniques and/or results of investigative techniques; 67
(v) Records that would deprive a person of a right 68
to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication; 69
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(vi) Records that would endanger the life or 70
safety of a public official or law enforcement personnel, or 71
confidential informants or witnesses; 72
(vii) Records pertaining to quality control or 73
PEER review activities; or 74
(viii) Records that would impede or jeopardize a 75
prosecutor's ability to prosecute the alleged offense. 76
(g) "Law enforcement agency" means a public body that 77
performs as one (1) of its principal functions activities 78
pertaining to the enforcement of criminal laws, the apprehension 79
and investigation of criminal offenders, or the investigation of 80
criminal activities. 81
(h) "Personally Identifiable Information (PII)" 82
means information that can be used to distinguish or trace an 83
individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other 84
personal or identifying information that is linked or linkable to 85
a specific individual. The definition of PII is not anchored to 86
any single category of information or technology. Rather, it 87
requires a case-by-case assessment of the specific risk that an 88
individual can be identified. Non-PII can become PII whenever 89
additional information is made publicly available, in any medium 90
and from any source, that when combined with other available 91
information could be used to identify an individual. 92
(i) "Protected Personally Identifiable Information 93
(Protected PII)" means an individual's first name or first initial 94
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and last name in combination with any one or more of types of 95
information, including, but not limited to: 96
(i) Social Security numbers; 97
(ii) Home addresses; 98
(iii) Driver's license numbers; 99
(iv) Date and place of birth; 100
(v) Home or personal phone number; 101
(vi) Financial account numbers; 102
(vii) Personnel records and applications for 103
employment; 104
(viii) Information that would disclose a 105
person's individual tax return or status; 106
(ix) Applications for licensure in the 107
possession of a public body; 108
(x) Passport number; 109
(xi) Mother's maiden name; 110
(xii) Criminal, medical and financial record; 111
(xiii) Educational transcripts. 112
SECTION 2. Section 25-61-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 113
amended as follows: 114
25-61-12. (1) The home address, any telephone number of a 115
privately paid account or other private information of any law 116
enforcement officer, criminal investigator, judge or district 117
attorney, or the spouse or child of the law enforcement officer, 118
criminal investigator, judge or district attorney, shall be exempt 119
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from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. This exemption 120
does not apply to any court transcript or recording if given under 121
oath and not otherwise excluded by law. 122
(2) (a) When in the possession of a law enforcement agency, 123
investigative reports shall be exempt from the provisions of this 124
chapter; however, a law enforcement agency, in its discretion, may 125
choose to make public all or any part of any investigative report. 126
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 127
prevent any and all public bodies from having among themselves a 128
free flow of information for the purpose of achieving a 129
coordinated and effective detection and investigation of unlawful 130
activity. Where the confidentiality of records covered by this 131
section is being determined in a private hearing before a judge 132
under Section 25-61-13, the public body may redact or separate 133
from the records the identity of confidential informants or the 134
identity of the person or persons under investigation or other 135
information other than the nature of the incident, time, date and 136
location. 137
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 138
exempt from public disclosure a law enforcement incident report. 139
An incident report shall be a public record. A law enforcement 140
agency may release information in addition to the information 141
contained in the incident report. 142
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ST: Personally Identifiable Informatioin (PII);
define and provide exemptions.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 143
require the disclosure of information that would reveal the 144
identity of the victim. 145
(3) Personal information of victims, including victim impact 146
statements and letters of support on behalf of victims that are 147
contained in records on file with the Mississippi Department of 148
Corrections and State Parole Board, shall be exempt from the 149
provisions of this chapter. 150
(4) Records of a public hospital board relating to the 151
purchase or sale of medical or other practices or other business 152
operations, and the recruitment of physicians and other health 153
care professionals, shall be exempt from the provisions of this 154
chapter. 155
(5) Protected Personally Identifiable Information and other 156
Personally Identifiable Information, as defined in Section 157
25-61-3, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. 158
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 159
and after July 1, 2026. 160