Incident reports are now public record

Local News

July 2, 2008

by Jeremy Pittari Picayune Item Wed Jul 02, 2008, 11:35 AM CDT

PICAYUNE — As of Tuesday, law enforcement incident reports are public record.

House Bill 474 was passed into law by the last regular session of the Mississippi Legislature and took effect on Tuesday. Incident reports as described in the bill include, at a minimum, “the name and identification of each person charged with and arrested for the alleged offense, the time, date and location of the alleged offense, and the property involved,” the bill states.

According to a reading of the bill by 15th Judicial District Attorney Hal Kittrell, the Picayune Police Department has been providing information of this nature for years, and the department has no plans of changing their current practices, Chief Jim Luke said.

“We’re already exceeding what House Bill 474 requires,” said Deputy Chief David Ervin.

Narratives, a detailed explanation of the events leading up to the arrest, will not be considered public record since many times the narratives contain investigative techniques, Ervin said. If information in a narrative becomes available to the public, then that information is released in the form of a department press release.

Incident reports also will be available at the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department and the Poplarville Police Department. It may be a few weeks before the reports are readily available at the Poplarville Police Department since the department is in the process of having new computer software installed to help with the reports, said Chief Charlie Fazende.

“The only reason we’d even withhold any information is simply for the integrity of the investigation,” Fazende said.

For the past several months the department has been revamping its computer system, including installing the software to produce incident reports.

“We’re certainly going to comply with the new law,” Fazende said.

Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator Shane Tucker said incident reports became available at their office as of Tuesday.

Public requests can be made by visiting the office believed involved in an arrest.

A spokesman for Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop K, which is the troop that covers Pearl River county and its surrounding counties, was unavailable for comment.

A copy of the bill can be viewed online at http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2008/html/HB/0400-0499/HB0474PS.htm.

Text Only

Local News

POLICE MEMORIAL
City employees were out at the Picayune Police Department memorial Thursday morning doing some upgrades to it.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
ACCIDENT ACCIDENT — Emergency personnel responded to this accident Thursday morning on South Haugh Avenue.
May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Supervisors support sales tax proposal
The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors unanimously supports District 1 Supervisor Anthony Hales proposal for a 1-percent county sales tax.
Hales had outlined his proposal at two earlier meetings of the board of supervisors and the other four members voiced their support for the idea at Wednesday’s meeting.

May 25, 2012
Lawrence sentenced to 57 months for child porn
Picayune native Clifford Lawrence has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for possession of child pornography.

May 25, 2012
WORK UNDERWAY WORK UNDERWAY — Foundation work on Nicholson Elementary’s multi-purpose building is underway. The building is expected to be complete by spring of next year and will provide the surrounding community with a place to hold events.
May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Washing Water Tower
WASHING WATER TOWER — These workers were spray-cleaning the water tower at Pearl River Community College at Poplarville last week.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
New, old law makers tout legislative successes
Four state law makers held a legislative review for members of the Greater Picayune Area Chamber of Commerce at the newly opened Southern Char restaurant Tuesday night to share with business owners information about new bills and laws that have been passed.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
School board approves step raises
Picayune teachers and other staff members should receive step pay increases next year, following some debate on the matter during Tuesday’s meeting of the Picayune Municipal Separate School District.

May 23, 2012
PRC GRADUATION
PRC GRADUATION — At left, Pearl River Central High School Valedictorian Layton Spiers addresses the PRC Senior Class of 2012. At right, PRC Salutatorian Hayden Skantz addresses the graduating class. PRC High School held its graduation exercises Monday night in the school’s football stadium.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
PMHS GRADUATION SPEAKERS
PMHS GRADUATION SPEAKERS — From left valedictorian Jared Christopher Bates and salutatorian Bryce Austin Warden will lead Picayune Memorial High School’s graduation ceremonies at 7 p.m. Thursday at the football stadium.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Incident reports are now public record

Site Map

Contact Us