The Commercial Dispatch has filed a public records complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission against the Clay County Circuit Clerk’s Office alleging they failed to provide requested documents from county election qualifying forms.
The newspaper mailed the complaint to the commission’s Jackson headquarters on Wednesday. It specifically asks for the circuit clerk to provide candidates’ contact information to verify legitimacy of their qualifications.
From Jan. 3 to Feb. 1, 35 candidates qualified to run for public office in Clay County, filling out qualifying forms which contained their phone numbers, email addresses, date of birth and physical address. While those forms are public records, only a select few candidates filled out additional media contact forms with contact information. Those media contact forms are what The Dispatch initially received from Circuit Clerk Kim Brown Hood upon request. On Monday, county board of supervisors attorney Angela Turner-Ford sent The Dispatch copies of the qualifying forms with phone numbers and email addresses redacted.
On Feb. 6, The Dispatch formally requested via email the full Clay County election qualifying forms with candidate contact information including phone number, email and address.
In correspondence with The Dispatch last Thursday, Kim Brown Hood emailed and attached Attorney General Jim Hood’s opinion, as written by Elizabeth S. Bolin, stating phone numbers are not relevant to candidate qualifications.
“With regard to candidate qualifying forms, we are of the opinion that information which is necessary to verify or evaluate the candidate’s qualifications, such as a street address (residential address) or date of birth, is not subject to redaction,” AG Hood’s opinion reads.
“However, information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, and mailing addresses (post office boxes) should be redacted prior to disclosure.”
The Dispatch’s complaint acknowledges AG Hood’s prior ruling that addresses and dates of birth are public record because it helps prove the candidate meets the qualification standards, but the complaint also asserts that full contact information is needed to fully establish a candidate has properly qualified.
Most elected positions require candidates to have residency in the county for a minimum of two years, and some positions require verification of no criminal record, education history and more.
Dispatch Publisher Peter Imes said when citizens file to run for a public office, voters should have contact information available to verify the legitimacy of the candidates.
“There are so many possible questions surrounding a political candidate’s basic qualifications for office, it makes sense that basic contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses are made available to the public for review,” Imes said. “Not too long ago, a candidate’s home phone number would have been in the phone book, readily available to everyone.”
Turner-Ford said Clay County looks forward to receiving a ruling regarding the complaint but declined to make further comment on the matter.
“We look forward to participating in that process and ultimately receiving a ruling from the ethics commission or a court of competent jurisdiction for further guidance,” she said in an email.
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