Mississippi § 71-5-127 - Records and reports; confidentiality of information [Repealed effective July 1, 2023].

§ 71-5-127. Records and reports; confidentiality of information [Repealed effective July 1, 2023].

Any information or records concerning an individual or employing unit obtained by the department pursuant to the administration of this chapter or any other federally funded programs for which the department has responsibility shall be private and confidential, except as otherwise provided in this article or by regulation. Information or records may be released by the department when the release is required by the federal government in connection with, or as a condition of funding for, a program being administered by the department. Each employing unit shall keep true and accurate work records, containing such information as the department may prescribe. Such records shall be open to inspection and be subject to being copied by the department or its authorized representatives at any reasonable time and as often as may be necessary. The department, Board of Review and any referee may require from any employing unit any sworn or unsworn reports with respect to persons employed by it which they or any of them deem necessary for the effective administration of this chapter. Information, statements, transcriptions of proceedings, transcriptions of recordings, electronic recordings, letters, memoranda, and other documents and reports thus obtained or obtained from any individual pursuant to the administration of this chapter shall, except to the extent necessary for the proper administration of this chapter, be held confidential and shall not be published or be opened to public inspection (other than to public employees in the performance of their public duties) in any manner revealing the individual’s or employing unit’s identity. Any claimant or his legal representative at a hearing before an appeal tribunal or the Board of Review shall be supplied with information from such records to the extent necessary for the proper presentation of his claim in any proceeding pursuant to this chapter. Any employee or member of the Board of Review or any employee of the department who violates any provisions of this section shall be fined not less than Twenty Dollars ($20.00) nor more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), or imprisoned for not longer than ninety (90) days, or both. The department may make the state’s records relating to the administration of this chapter available to the Railroad Retirement Board, and may furnish the Railroad Retirement Board, at the expense of such board, such copies thereof as the Railroad Retirement Board deems necessary for its purposes. The department may afford reasonable cooperation with every agency of the United States charged with the administration of any unemployment insurance law.