Can a Mississippi public body require a records request, a fee, or a reason before someone inspects its meeting minutes?

Plain-English summary

A legislator asked whether a public body, particularly a school board, may make a person file a formal public records request, pay a fee, or explain why they want to see its official meeting minutes. The Attorney General answered no for inspection during regular business hours. The Open Meetings Act says a public body's minutes must be open for public inspection then. The opinion reads that specific rule as controlling over the Public Records Act's general procedures for access to public records.

The distinction is between looking at minutes and receiving a copy. Someone who only wants to inspect the minutes cannot be required to use Public Records Act request procedures or pay a fee. The Open Meetings Act also gives the body no authority to demand a reason for that inspection. For a physical or electronic copy, the AG says the body may require compliance with the Public Records Act.

What this means for you

People who want to inspect a board's minutes

The opinion says a public body must allow inspection during its regular business hours without a Public Records Act request, a fee, or a stated reason. The request is for access to inspect the minutes, rather than for a copy.

School boards and other public bodies

The Open Meetings Act's rule for minutes controls the inspection request. The opinion says the body may apply Public Records Act procedures when a person requests a physical or electronic copy instead. It does not give the body authority to add preconditions for in-person inspection of minutes.

Public records officers

The opinion separates two kinds of access to the same document. Inspecting minutes during business hours falls under Miss. Code Ann. § 25-41-11(1). A request for copies may be processed under the Public Records Act, including its written procedures and cost provisions.

Common questions

Q: Do I need to submit a written public records request just to read meeting minutes? A: No. The AG says the Open Meetings Act gives a separate right to inspect them during regular business hours. A body cannot condition that inspection on following its Public Records Act request procedure.

Q: May a public body charge me to inspect its minutes?
A: No. The opinion states that inspection under the Open Meetings Act is available at no charge. It distinguishes requests for copies, which may be handled under the Public Records Act.

Q: Must I tell the board why I want to see its minutes?
A: No. The AG found no authority in the Open Meetings Act for a public body to require a reason before allowing inspection.

Q: What if I ask for an emailed or printed copy?
A: The opinion says the body may require a person seeking a physical or electronic copy to comply with the Public Records Act.

Background and statutory framework

Miss. Code Ann. § 25-41-11(1) requires public bodies to make minutes open to public inspection during regular business hours. Miss. Code Ann. § 25-61-5(1)(a) gives a broader right to inspect or copy public records, subject to reasonable written procedures about cost, time, place, and method of access. The Public Records Act also allows certain fees under Miss. Code Ann. § 25-61-7(1).

The AG applied the rule that a statute addressing a specific subject controls over a more general statute. It treated the Open Meetings Act's rule for inspecting minutes as the specific one. The opinion says that Act's only stated limit on inspection is regular business hours, and it does not authorize a public body to adopt additional conditions for access to its minutes.

Citations and references

• Miss. Code Ann. § 25-41-11(1) (inspection of minutes)
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 25-61-5(1)(a), 25-61-7(1) (public records procedures and fees)
• State ex rel. Hood v. Madison Cnty. ex rel. Madison Cnty. Bd. of Sup’rs, 873 So. 2d 85, 91 (Miss. 2004)
• Benoit v. United Companies Mortgage of Mississippi, Inc., 504 So. 2d 196, 198 (Miss. 1987)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/J.-Owen-October-15-2026-Inspection-of-Minutes-Under-Open-Meetings-Act.pdf

Original opinion text

October 15, 2026
The Honorable Jansen Owen
Mississippi State Representative
P.O. Box 1018
Jackson, Mississippi 39215
Re:

Inspection of Minutes Under Open Meetings Act

Dear Representative Owen:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion. Background Your request seeks an opinion from our office about the application of the Open Meetings Act and the Public Records Act to requests to inspect the official minutes of a public body.1 Questions Presented

1. Does the Public Records Act authorize a public body to require individuals who only ask to
   inspect the minutes to submit a formal request and pay a fee before being allowed to inspect the minutes?
2. Does the Open Meetings Act’s requirement that the minutes of a public body be made available
   for inspection during regular business hours preclude a public body from requiring individuals to comply with the Public Records Act before being allowed to inspect the minutes?
3. May a public body require an individual to provide a reason for requesting to inspect the
   minutes?
4. May a public body require individuals to comply with the Public Records Act if they only
   request a physical or electronic copy of the minutes?

1

Your request asks specifically about a school board, a public body to which the Open Meetings Act applies. See Shipman v. North Panola Consol. School Dist., 641 So. 2d 1106, 1115-16 (Miss. 1994); see also Touchard v. George Cnty. Miss. School Dist., 2024 WL 1130277 at *7, n.2 (S.D. Miss. Jan. 12, 2024). 550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680

The Honorable Jansen Owen
October 15, 2026
Page 2
Brief Response

1. No. A public body may not deny individuals the opportunity to inspect the minutes if they do
   not comply with the procedural requirements of the Public Records Act because the Open Meetings Act specifically provides that a public body’s minutes must be open for public inspection during regular business hours at no charge.
2. Yes. The Open Meetings Act specifically governs the right to inspect a public body’s minutes
   and therefore controls over the Public Records Act, which governs the more general right to inspect or copy all non-exempt records of a public body.
3. No. The Open Meetings Act does not authorize a public body to require individuals to provide
   a reason for their request to inspect the minutes.
4. Yes. A public body may require individuals who request a physical or electronic copy of the
   minutes to comply with the Public Records Act.
   Applicable Law and Discussion
   The Open Meetings Act requires that the “minutes” of a public body “be open to public inspection during regular business hours.” Miss. Code Ann. § 25-41-11(1). The Public Records Act, on the other hand, provides that “any person shall have the right to inspect, copy or mechanically reproduce or obtain a reproduction of any public record of a public body,” subject to the “reasonable written procedures adopted by the public body concerning the cost, time, place and method of access[.]” Miss. Code Ann. § 25-61-5(1)(a). The written procedures adopted by a public body may require the submission of a “written request for a public record” and the payment of “fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for . . . the actual cost of searching, reviewing and/or duplicating . . . public records.” Id.; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-61-7(1). We understand your first, second, and fourth questions to be essentially whether the Open Meetings Act precludes a public body from requiring that individuals who only seek to inspect the minutes comply with the Public Records Act before being given access to the minutes. It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction “that a specific statute controls over a general statute.” State ex rel. Hood v. Madison Cnty. ex rel. Madison Cnty. Bd. of Sup’rs, 873 So. 2d 85, 91 (Miss. 2004) (citations omitted); see Benoit v. United Companies Mortgage of Mississippi, Inc., 504 So. 2d 196, 198 (Miss. 1987) (“[W]here a special and particular statute deals with a special and particular subject its particular terms as to that special subject control over general statutes dealing with the subject generally.”). Since the Open Meetings Act specifically governs the right to inspect the minutes of a public body, it is the opinion of this office that the Open Meetings Act would control over the Public Records Act, which governs the more general right to inspect or copy all non-exempt records of a public body. A public body, therefore, may not require an individual who only asks to inspect the minutes to comply with either the Public Records Act or the public body’s procedures adopted thereunder. You also ask whether public bodies may require individuals to provide a reason for their request to inspect the minutes. They may not. Unlike the Public Records Act, the Open Meetings Act does 550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680

The Honorable Jansen Owen
October 15, 2026
Page 3
not provide public bodies the legal authority to adopt their own written procedures governing inspections of their minutes. Instead, it simply requires that such bodies make their minutes “open to public inspection.” Miss. Code Ann. § 25-41-11(1). The only limitation placed on such inspections is that they occur “during regular business hours.” Id.; see also MS AG Op., Leggett at *3 (Apr. 18, 2017). It is thus the opinion of this office that the Open Meetings Act does not authorize public bodies to impose additional preconditions or procedural requirements —such as the one referenced in your third question— that must be met before an individual is allowed to inspect the minutes. 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/ Wilson Douglas Minor
Wilson Douglas Minor
Special Assistant Attorney General

550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201
POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205
TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680