Constitutional Law

Miss. governor signs new sunshine law

By By The Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — Gov. Haley Barbour yesterday signed a bill to strengthen Mississippi?s open-meetings and public-records laws.

Starting July 1, individual officials could face fines of $500 to $1,000 for improperly closing meetings that should be open to the public. Under current law, taxpayers have been footing the bill for the fines.

The measure, S.B. 2289, also says that starting July 1, a person could be charged $100 per incident for improperly denying someone access to public records. Current law says there?s a $100 fine but doesn?t specify that it?s for each incident.

The Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information and the Mississippi Press Association were among the open-government groups lobbying for the changes, saying they could make officials more accountable for their own actions.

City councils, county boards of supervisors, school boards and other public bodies are allowed to close meetings for specific reasons, such as discussing pending lawsuits or personnel decisions.

While many government boards follow proper procedures for closing meetings, some have done so improperly.

For example, Lauderdale County supervisors went into closed session this past September, saying they were going to discuss personnel matters. They inadvertently left on a camera that was putting the meeting?s video on a county website, and the camera showed them in closed meeting discussing a possible increase in garbage fees. The video was removed after some residents saw it.

The Meridian Star newspaper filed a state Ethics Commission complaint against the supervisors. In January, the commission ruled that supervisors had violated the open-meetings law. The commission set a $100 fine, which critics said was too low.

MPA President Wyatt Emmerich, who?s president of Emmerich Newspapers and publisher of The Northside Sun, praised legislators for approving the change.

?Citizens and reporters alike have watched this law abused with virtually no repercussions to the violators,? Emmerich said. ?Now, officials will think twice before arbitrarily going into executive session and booting out the public.?

The bill met little resistance in the Legislature this year. Similar bills died in recent years after some lawmakers said it would be a financial burden for relatively low-paid elected officials who might have to pay fines for open-meetings violations.

MPA board member Jim Prince, president of Prince Newspapers, said the revised law should make government more transparent.

?This is a victory for the people,? Prince said.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on February 24, 2011 (boomark / email).