21 Miss. Code. R. 201-2.4 - Processing of public records requests - General
A.
Providing access. The Ethics Commission acknowledges that "providing access to
public records is a duty" and that "any person shall have the right to inspect,
copy or mechanically reproduce or obtain a reproduction of any public record"
in accordance with these policies. Sections
25-61-1
and
25-61-5.
The public records officer or designee will process requests in the order
allowing the most requests to be processed in the most efficient
manner.
B. Acknowledging receipt of
request. Within five business days of receipt of the request, the public
records officer will do one or more of the following: (1) Make the records
available for inspection or copying; (2) If copies are requested and payment of
a deposit for the copies, if any, is made or terms of payment are agreed upon,
send the copies to the requestor; (3) Provide a reasonable estimate of when
records will be available; or (4) If the request is unclear or does not
sufficiently identify the requested records, request clarification from the
requestor. (Such clarification may be requested and provided by telephone. The
public records officer or designee may revise the estimate of when records will
be available); or (5) Deny the request.
C. Consequences of failure to respond. If the
Ethics Commission does not respond in writing within five business days of
receipt of the request for disclosure, the requestor should consider contacting
the public records officer to determine the reason for the failure to
respond.
D. Protecting rights of
others. In the event that the requested records contain information that may
affect rights of others and may be exempt from disclosure, the public records
officer may, prior to providing the records, give notice to such others whose
rights may be affected by the disclosure. Such notice should be given so as to
make it possible for those other persons to contact the requestor and ask him
or her to revise the request, or, if necessary, seek an order from a court to
prevent or limit the disclosure. The notice to the affected persons will
include a copy of the request.
E.
Records exempt from disclosure. Some records are exempt from disclosure, in
whole or in part. If the Ethics Commission believes that a record is exempt
from disclosure and should be withheld, the public records officer will state
the specific exemption and provide a brief explanation of why the record or a
portion of the record is being withheld. If only a portion of a record is
exempt from disclosure, but the remainder is not exempt, the public records
officer will redact the exempt portions, provide the nonexempt portions, and
indicate to the requestor why portions of the record are being
redacted.
Notes
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