R.Caves - July 30, 2024 - Public Records Request

550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680 July 30, 2024 Risher G. Caves, Esq. Attorney, Jones County Board of Education Post Office Drawer 167 Laurel, Mississippi 39441-0167 Re: Public Records Request Dear Mr. Caves: The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion. Question Presented If a public records request seeks a list of statistical information that does not currently exist, is a school district required to compile and assemble said list of information?1 Brief Response No. A school district is not required to create a record that does not currently exist in response to a public records request. Applicable Law and Discussion Pursuant to the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983 (the “Act”), public records must “be available for inspection by any person unless otherwise provided by” the Act. Miss. Code Ann. § 25-61-2 (emphasis added). The Act does not require a public body to create a record in response to a public records request. MS AG Op., Robertson at *1 (Oct. 13, 2006). Rather, the public body merely must make its records available for inspection. See MISSISSIPPI MODEL PUBLIC RECORDS RULES, COMMENT 4.4(4)(a) (stating that “[a] public body is only required to provide access to public records it has in its possession or over which it has control. A public body is not required to create a public record in response to a request.”). Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that a school district is not required by the Act to compile and assemble a list of statistical information if the requested document does not already exist. 1 Your opinion request included an additional question. However, you informed us in a subsequent conversation that the additional question was moot and did not require a response. Risher G. Caves, Esq. July 30, 2024 Page 2 550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680 If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL By: /s/ Beebe Garrard Beebe Garrard Special Assistant Attorney General