Availability of Public Records

Availability of Public Records A. Hours for inspection of records. Public records are available for inspection and copying during normal business hours at MDHS, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding state/legal holidays. Records must be inspected at the office of MDHS. The time, place and manner of inspection and copying of records will not be allowed to interfere with other essential duties of MDHS. B. Organization of records. MDHS will maintain its records in a reasonably organized manner, subject to the rules of record retention. MDHS will take reasonable actions to protect records from damage and disorganization. A requestor shall not take MDHS records from MDHS offices. A variety of records including certain reports and data is available on the MDHS web site at https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/media-news-room/. Requestors are encouraged to view the documents available on the web site prior to submitting a records request. C. Making a request for public records. Any person wishing to inspect or copy public records of MDHS should make the request in writing on the MDHS request form, or by letter, fax, or e-mail addressed to the Public Records Officer and include the following information: 1) Name of requestor; 2) Address of requestor; 3) Other contact information, including telephone number and any e-mail address; 4) Identification of the public records adequate for the Public Records Officer or Designee to locate the records; and 5) The date and time of day of the request. D. If the requestor wishes to have copies of the records made instead of simply inspecting them, he or she should so indicate and make arrangements to pay for copies of the records or a deposit. (See Rule 1.9 Cost of Providing Public Records) E. A form is available for use by requestors at the office of the Public Records Officer, by email at public.records@mdhs.ms.gov, and online at https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/public- records-request/ F. The Public Records Officer or Designee may accept requests for public records that contain the above information by telephone or in person. If the Officer or Designee accepts such a request by telephone, he or she will confirm receipt of the information and the substance of the request in writing.