Cellular South, Inc. v. BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC

Summary

The Mississippi Supreme Court considered whether 2015 amendments to the Mississippi Public Records Act removed the protected status of a BellSouth proposal and telecommunications contract with the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services. The court held that the chancery court misconstrued Mississippi Code section 25-61-11 and that the amended Public Records Act governed the dispute because the relevant rights were created by statute. The court reversed and remanded for the trial court to determine whether the documents fell within the statutory provisions requiring disclosure.

Holdings

1. Section 25-61-11 does not shield the 2006 protective order from the 2015 amendments to the Public Records Act. The chancery court therefore erred by interpreting Section 25-61-11 to prevent the amendments from affecting the order.
2. Because the rights and remedies at issue were created solely by the Public Records Act, the 2015 amendments must be applied as though the Act had always read as amended, absent an applicable saving clause, a final judgment, or impairment of a vested right.
3. The Supreme Court did not determine whether the particular contract was a contract for personal or professional services under Section 25-1-100(5). That issue was left for the chancery court to decide on remand.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Mississippi Code Section 25-61-11 preserved the 2006 protective order against the 2015 amendments to the Mississippi Public Records Act.
2. Whether the 2015 amendments governing public-records disclosure applied to the records and rights at issue despite the fact that the contract and protective order predated the amendments.
3. Whether Mississippi Code Section 25-1-100(5) potentially required disclosure of the contract as a contract for personal or professional services.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded