Section 27-120-9.7 - FILING OF PLEADINGS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS; COPIES TO BE MADE AVAILABLEA. All pleadings, briefs, requests, and other correspondence shall be filed with the Administrative Office. When an appeal is filed, the Administrative Office shall assign it a docket number.B. All pleadings and other documents filed in the appeal shall be entered on a docket to be maintained by the Administrative Office. The Administrative Office shall make a notation of the filing date on all such pleadings and other documents.C. Copies of any and all pleadings, briefs and requests filed by any party to an appeal must be served on every other party or his or her attorney. All such documents must contain a certification executed by the serving party identifying the parties served, the manner of service and the date of service.D. All pleadings, briefs, and requests filed by any party to an appeal must be signed by such party or his or her attorney and must specify the assigned docket number.E. Obligation to Protect Sensitive and Private Information1. Parties and their counsel shall refrain from including, or shall partially redact where inclusion is necessary and relevant to the case, the following personal data identifiers from all pleadings and other papers filed with the tribunal, including exhibits thereto, whether filed electronically or in paper, unless otherwise ordered by the tribunal or except where otherwise specifically required by rule or statute:a. Social Security numbers: If an individual's social security number must be included in a pleading, only the last four digits of that number should be used.b. Names of minor children: If the involvement of a minor child must be mentioned, only the initials of that child should be used.c. Dates of birth: If an individual's date of birth must be included in a pleading, only the year should be used.d. Financial account numbers: If financial account numbers are relevant, only the last four digits of those numbers should be used.e. Health Information Portability and Accountability Act protected information in which the records do not belong to a party.f. Any confidential agency records or information protected under Federal law or regulation for a specific agency due to their federal funding guidelines.2. The responsibility for redacting these personal identifiers rests solely with counsel and the parties. The EAB Administrative Office staff will not review pleadings for compliance with this procedure. Attorneys are also advised to exercise caution when filing documents that contain the following:a. personal identifying number, such as driver's license number;b. medical records, treatment, and diagnosis;d. individual financial information: and,e. proprietary or trade secret information3. Attorneys are strongly urged to share this notice with all clients so that an informed decision may be made about the inclusion of certain materials in court documents.4. Counsel and the parties are cautioned that failure to redact personal identifiers and/or the inclusion of irrelevant personal information in a pleading or exhibit field with the court may subject the party and/or counsel to sanctions as provided in Section 9.16(F).F. A party may file a motion to seal records in lieu of the redaction requirement. If the hearing officer issues an order to seal the records, then the party may file the records unredacted.G. Filing Documents with Sensitive and Private Information A party wishing to file a document containing the personal data identifiers listed above may do so in the following manner: 1. File an unredacted version of the document under seal, or2. File a reference list under seal. The reference list shall contain the complete personal data identifier(s) used in its (their) place in the filing. All references to the redacted identifiers in the case included in the references list will be constructed to refer to the corresponding complete personal data identifier. The references list must be filed under the seal and may be amended without leave of court.
The unredacted version of the document or the reference list shall be retained by the court as part of the record. The court may, however still require the party to file a redacted copy for the public file.
H. A party waives his or her right to the protection of 9.7 (E) by filing documents that include his or her own personal data identifiers without redaction.27 Miss. Code. R. 120-9.7