Mississippi Public Records
How to Reduce the Amount of Your Information That is Found in Mississippi Public Records
Mississippi public records contain a lot of information on those living in the state of Mississippi. While it is useful for finding out information about others, it's often disconcerting to those that find their own information included within these public records.
In general, if the information on you inside of the Mississippi public records is made public, there is little you can do. The Freedom of Information Act has decided that a lot of "personal" information is not private enough to be considered truly private, so that information may be made public. You can contact the records office for any information on you and see if there is a way to remove it.
However, you may be able to reduce some of this information yourself, simply by remembering to keep as much of your life private as possible. One example is with the Mississippi government website. According to public records law, any and all communication provided to the state is considered a matter of public record. So if you send an email to the state that contains personal information, it is possible that that email will become a part of Mississippi public records.
To keep as much information about you out of the public record as possible, make sure that you only provide personal information to things - especially government entities - when you absolutely have to. Otherwise the government may be forced to put what you send them into public record.
Mississippi Birth Records
Until 1st November 1912 Mississippi did not have any official record of the births that took place in the state. They started registering the births in 1912 which were generally compiled in 1921. The birth records since then have been kept by Mississippi State Department of Health. For birth records before then; you would have to contact the Department of Archives & History where there is a chance that some old records might be present.
A person wanting to access the Mississippi Birth Records could write an application to the State Department of Health at Vital Records, 2423 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216. The application could be handed over via mail, in person and even through the internet; from where it would be a wait of 7 days till the application is processed. If the birth records are not found after a five year search then a certificate of Not-On-File would be issued to the applicant. Whether it is a family member, a neighbor or even a college fellow, the state of Mississippi had made it easy for you to access their Birth records. You can access anyone’s birth record in the State, but the State laws of Mississippi require a photograph with a valid ID of the applicant who is trying to access the birth records. Even a driver’s license with your Photograph on it would suffice.
Mississippi Death Records
Mississippi death records are the responsibility of the Mississippi State Department of Health, under the heading of Vital Records. They have death records dating back to November 1 1912, when the state began officially keeping records.
If you are in search of records prior to that date, you will need to look into the Department of Archives and History for the state of Mississippi, as they are responsible for any records kept prior to the official date.
Mississippi requires that a certified copy of death can only be given to a party who is eligible and shows legitimate legal interest this includes, parents as listed on record of death, a sibling, grandparent, child, or spouse, these will require proof of relationship. Legal guardians are also entitled to a certified copy of the death certificate, and must provide proof of guardianship. Any legal representative of one of these eligible parties may file the application. A court order will allow you to obtain a certified copy of a death record in Mississippi. Funeral homes and their agents may obtain a copy as long as they were the party listed to take possession of the remains.
If you are doing genealogy research you are only allowed access to records that occurred more than fifty years before the current date, you must also clarify the relationship, these copies will not be certified and will be printed on plain paper.
Search Mississippi Public Records By County
Additional Mississippi Resources
The links listed below lead to government agencies that provide free online access to public record information.
- Mississippi - Workers' Compensation - Employer Proof of Coverage
- Mississippi - Sex Offender Registry
- Mississippi - Business Entities
- Mississippi - Most Wanted
- Mississippi - Incarceration Records - Inmates or Parolees
- Mississippi - State Archives
- Mississippi - Unclaimed Property
- Mississippi - Parolee Search
- Mississippi - Supreme Court Dockets
- Mississippi - Securities
- Mississippi - Boat Registration
- Mississippi - PAC List
- Mississippi - Campaign Finance Reports
- Mississippi - Lobbyists and Lobbyist Client Search
- Mississippi - UCC Filings
- Mississippi Online Searches
- Mississippi Court Records