Mississippi Advisory Opinions November 15, 2002: AGO 2002-0659 (November 15, 2002)

Advisory Opinion Text

Gary Beech

Tax Assessor and Collector

Pearl River County

Post Office Box 509

Poplarville, Mississippi 39470

Re: Homestead Exemption Eligibility

Dear Mr. Beech:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your request for an official opinion and has assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:

As the Tax Collector/Assessor I would like to enlist the assistance of our Sheriff's Department in determining that Homestead Exemption applicants are properly tagging their vehicles in our country. Would it be permissible for a Tax Assessor/Collector to furnish to the Sheriff, a Homestead List including names, addresses, social security numbers, birth dates and other such information? Is there information in the Tax Assessor/Collector's office, which is considered “confidential” and cannot be shared with the Sheriff's Department? Your assistance with this matter is certainly appreciated.

We note that generally the assessment rolls are public records. MS AG Op., Allen (March 9, 2001). We do not, however, believe that it is in the public interest to reveal the social security numbers or birth dates of taxpayers. Such prohibition has been recognized in several statutes.

Miss. Code Ann. Section 23-15-140(3) provides:

Social security numbers, telephone numbers, and date of birth and age information retained in statewide, district, county and municipal voter registration files shall be exempt from and shall not be subject to inspection, examination, copying or reproduction under the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983.

Miss. Code Ann. Section 25-1-111 states:

When any state agency mails, delivers, circulates, publishes, distributes, transmits, or otherwise disseminates, in any form or manner, information or material that contains the social security number of an individual, the agency shall take such steps as may be reasonably necessary to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of the individual's social security number to members of the general public or to persons other than those persons who, in the performance of their duties and responsibilities, have a lawful and legitimate need to know the individual's social security number.

We have previously opined that the tax assessor-collector must edit out social security numbers when providing a member of the public a copy of a list sent by the Mississippi Department of Health to the county tax assessor-collectors each month listing the names of persons who died the previous month and their social security numbers. MS AG Op., Dendy (April 6, 2001).

We now opine that the tax assessor-collector may provide the sheriff with a list of those property owners who have been granted homestead exemption, which list may include the social security number and the birth date of the taxpayer. Such information must remain confidential and cannot be disclosed by the sheriff to the general public.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General

Beverly Bolton Special Assistant Attorney General