2019 Mississippi Code
Title 99 - Criminal Procedure
Chapter 47 - Victim of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault or Stalking Address Confidentiality Program
§ 99-47-1. Definitions; Address Confidentiality Program established; application contents; certification as program participant; penalties for knowingly providing false or incorrect information on application; cancellation of certification; use of substitute address by public bodies; prohibition against disclosure of records in program participant’s file; exceptions; immunity from liability
(1) Definitions. — As used in this section:
(a) “Confidential address” means any residential street address, school address, or work address of an individual, as specified on the individual’s application to be a program participant under this section.
(b) “Program participant” means a person certified as a program participant under this section.
(c) “Domestic violence” means any of the following acts committed against a current or former spouse, a person living as a spouse or who formerly lived as a spouse or a child of persons living as spouses or who formerly lived as spouses, a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or someone similarly situated to the defendant, a person with whom the defendant has a biological or legally adopted child in common, or a person in a current or former dating relationship:
(i) A violation of a domestic violence protection order;
(ii) Simple or aggravated domestic violence as defined in Section 97-3-7(3) or 97-3-7(4); or
(iii) Threats of such acts.
(d) “Sexual assault” means an act as defined in Section 45-33-23(h) as a sex offense.
(e) “Stalking” means an act as defined in Section 97-3-107 or Section 97-45-15.
(f) “Substitute address” means an address designated and assigned by the Office of the Attorney General to a program participant as a substitute mailing address under the Address Confidentiality Program.
(g) “Victim” means an individual against whom domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking has been committed.
(2)
(a) Address Confidentiality Program. — An adult, a parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor, or a guardian acting on behalf of an incapacitated person, may apply to the Office of the Attorney General to have an address designated by the Office of the Attorney General serve as the substitute address for the person, the minor or the incapacitated person. The Office of the Attorney General shall approve an application if it is filed in the manner and on the form prescribed by the Office of the Attorney General and if it contains:
(i) A sworn statement by the applicant that the applicant has good reason to believe that the applicant, or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made, is a victim of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault, and that the applicant fears for his or her safety, or his or her children’s safety, or the safety of the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made;
(ii) A designation of the Office of the Attorney General as agent for purposes of services of process and for the purpose of receipt of mail;
(iii) The confidential address where the applicant can be contacted by the Office of the Attorney General, and the telephone number or numbers where the applicant can be contacted by the Office of the Attorney General;
(iv) The confidential address or addresses that the applicant requests not be disclosed for the reason that disclosure will increase the risk of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault;
(v) A statement of any existing or pending court order or court action involving the applicant that is related to divorce proceedings, child support, child custody, or child visitation; the court that issued each order or has jurisdiction over an action shall be noted;
(vi) The signature of the applicant and a representative of a domestic violence shelter or rape crisis center as designated under subsection (6) who assisted in the preparation of the application;
(vii) The date on which the applicant signed the application; and
(viii) Evidence that the applicant is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. This evidence shall include at least one (1) of the following:
1. Law enforcement, court or other local, state or federal agency records or files;
2. Documentation from a domestic violence shelter or rape crisis center; or
3. Other form of evidence as determined by the Office of the Attorney General.
(b) Applications shall be filed with the Office of the Attorney General.
(c) Upon approval of an application, the Office of the Attorney General shall certify the applicant as a program participant. Upon certification, the Office of the Attorney General shall issue an Address Confidentiality Program authorization card to the program participant. Applicants shall be certified for four (4) years following the date of certification unless the certification is withdrawn, cancelled or invalidated before that date.
(d) A program applicant who falsely attests in an application that disclosure of the applicant’s address would endanger the applicant’s safety or the safety of the applicant’s children or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made, or who knowingly provides false or incorrect information upon making an application or while a program participant, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed six (6) months.
(e) A fraudulent attempt to gain access to a program participant’s confidential address shall constitute a felony, punishable by a fine not to exceed Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed two (2) years.
(f) Knowingly entering the Address Confidentiality Program to evade civil liability or criminal prosecution shall constitute a felony, punishable by a fine not to exceed Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed two (2) years.
(g) A program participant may terminate the certification by filing a notarized request for withdrawal from the program with the Office of the Attorney General.
(3)
(a) Certification cancellation. — If the program participant obtains a name change, the person’s program participation is terminated and the person may immediately reapply for certification under the new name.
(b) The Office of the Attorney General may cancel a program participant’s certification if there is a change in the residential address or telephone number from the address or the telephone number listed for the program participant on the application unless the program participant provides the Office of the Attorney General with a minimum of seven (7) days’ notice before the change of address occurs.
(c) The Office of the Attorney General may cancel certification of a program participant if mail forwarded by the Office of the Attorney General to the program participant’s confidential address is returned as undeliverable or if service of process documents are returned to the Office of the Attorney General as unable to be served.
(d) The Office of the Attorney General shall cancel certification of a program participant who applies using false information.
(e) The Office of the Attorney General shall send notice of cancellation to the program participant. Notice of cancellation shall set out the reasons for cancellation. That program participant shall have thirty (30) days from receipt of notification of cancellation to appeal the cancellation decisions under procedures adopted by the Office of the Attorney General.
(f) An individual who ceases to be a program participant is responsible for notifying persons, who use the substitute address designated by the Office of the Attorney General as the program participant’s address, that the designated substitute address is no longer the individual’s address.
(4)
(a) Agency use of designated address. — Except as otherwise provided in this section, a program participant may request that public bodies use the address designated by the Office of the Attorney General as the participant’s substitute address. The program participant, and not the Office of the Attorney General, domestic violence shelter, nor rape crisis center, is responsible for requesting that any public body use the address designated by the Office of the Attorney General as the substitute address of the program participant. If there is any criminal proceeding on behalf of the program participant, the program participant is also responsible for notifying any law enforcement agency and the district attorney’s office of the person’s participation in the program. There shall be no responsibility on the part of any district attorney’s office or any law enforcement agency to request that a public body use the substitute address. Public bodies shall accept the address designated by the Office of the Attorney General as a program participant’s substitute address, unless the Office of the Attorney General has determined that:
(i) The public body has a bona fide statutory or administrative requirement for the use of the confidential address of the program participant as defined in this section; and
(ii) The confidential address will be used only for those statutory and administrative purposes.
(b) A program participant may use the substitute address designated by the Office of the Attorney General as his or her work address.
(c) The Office of the Attorney General shall forward all first-class, certified or registered mail to the program participant at the confidential address provided by the program participant. The Office of the Attorney General shall not be required to track or otherwise maintain records of any mail received on behalf of a program participant unless the mail is certified or registered.
(d) A program participant’s name, confidential address, telephone number and any other identifying information within the possession of a public body, as defined by Section 25-61-3, shall not constitute a public record within the meaning of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. The program participant’s actual name, address and telephone number shall be confidential and no public body shall disclose the program participant’s name, address, telephone number, or any other identifying information.
(5) Disclosure of records prohibited; exceptions. — A program participant’s confidential address and telephone number and any other identifying information in the possession of the Office of the Attorney General shall not constitute a public record within the meaning of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983, and shall not be disclosed during discovery in any criminal prosecution. The Office of the Attorney General shall not make any records in a program participant’s file available for inspection or copying other than the address designated by the Office of the Attorney General, except under the following circumstances:
(a) If requested by a law enforcement agency, to the law enforcement agency for official use only, but not to be included in any reports made by the law enforcement agency or required to be produced in discovery in any criminal prosecution;
(b) If directed by a court order, to a person identified in the order; or
(c) To verify, if requested by a public body, the participation of a specific program participant, in which case the Office of the Attorney General may only confirm participation in the program and confirm information supplied by the requester.
(6) Assistance for program applicants. — The Office of the Attorney General shall refer potential participants to domestic violence shelters or rape crisis centers that provide shelter and counseling services to either victims of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault to assist persons applying to be program participants.
(7) Address confidentiality funding. — Expenses of administering the Address Confidentiality Program shall be paid from the Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund.
(8) Immunity. — The Office of the Attorney General and/or its agents and/or employees are immune from civil and/or criminal liability for damages for conduct within the scope and arising out of the performance of the duties imposed under this section. Any district attorney and his agents and employees, any law enforcement agency and its agents and employees and any local or state agency and its agents and employees are immune from liability, whether civil or criminal, for damages for conduct within the scope and arising out of the program. Any employee or representative of a domestic violence shelter or rape crisis center who acts in good faith to assist a victim complete an application for participation in the Address Confidentiality Program shall be immune from civil and/or criminal liability. Any assistance rendered pursuant to this section, by the Office of the Attorney General, its agents or employees, shall in no way be construed as legal advice.
(9) Adoption of rules. — The Office of the Attorney General Victim Compensation Division is authorized to adopt rules and regulations as shall be necessary for carrying out the provisions of this section.
