Status: Open. No hold confirmed. Last updated October 26, 2026.
| Request ID | REQ-MS-2026-001 |
| Type | Preservation notice (litigation-hold style request to keep records) |
| Agencies | Mississippi Department of Revenue (DOR); Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) |
| Also sent to | Secretary of State public records office, Mississippi Ethics Commission, Office of the State Auditor, Carroll County |
| Date sent | Friday, October 9, 2026 |
| Laws cited | Miss. Code §§ 25-59-21, 25-59-23, 25-61-1 et seq. |
| Records covered | All public records in each office’s custody from January 1, 2020, through the date of acknowledgment |
| Agency contact | Bridgette T. Thomas, Chief Counsel, DOR Legal Division |
| What we asked for | Written confirmation of receipt, the date received, and the person responsible for the hold; identification of any record already scheduled for destruction |
| What we have received | No confirmation of a hold, no named responsible person, no list of records scheduled for disposal |
What the notice asked
The notice asked each office to preserve every public record in its custody from January 1, 2020, and not to destroy, alter, overwrite, delete or remove any record, web page, directory, report, email or file except under an approved records control schedule with the consent required by § 25-59-21. It listed electronic records, email, minutes, directories of public officials, audit reports, campaign-finance reports, statements of economic interest, tax rolls, tag and title logs, bonds, oaths, qualifying papers and complaint files. It said it did not ask any office to create a record it does not keep.
Timeline
| Date | From | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 9, 2026 | Roach Roundup | Preservation notice sent to DOR, MDAH and others. |
| Oct 14, 2026 | DOR (Thomas) | DOR treated the notice as a public records request and said it could not respond because it did not identify the records sought with enough specificity. |
| Oct 14, 2026 | Roach Roundup | Clarified that the notice was not a records request, asked DOR to confirm the hold and name the person responsible. Copied MDAH General Counsel Tommy Goodwin. |
| Oct 16, 2026 | DOR (Thomas) | DOR said it “maintains its records in accordance with applicable policies and laws.” No hold confirmed and no person named. |
| Oct 16, 2026 | Roach Roundup | Asked MDAH to act under § 25-59-21. Tracked as REQ-MS-2026-002. |
Open items
- DOR has not confirmed that the records will be preserved.
- DOR has not named a person responsible for the hold.
- DOR has not identified any records already scheduled for destruction.
- Responses from the other recipients are not yet logged here.
The law
- § 25-59-21: “No person may destroy, sell, loan or otherwise dispose of any public record without the consent of the director” of MDAH.
- § 25-59-23: deliberate destruction or alteration of records outside an approved records control schedule is a misdemeanor, with a fine of $500 to $1,000.