GULFPORT, Miss. — State Auditor Stacey Pickering may be able to rest easy now the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR) records are back on the coast. They were delivered to the Chancery Court in Gulfport Friday.
Earlier this year, the Sun Herald newspaper tried to get those get their hands on the DMR records while the DMR was being investigated for corruption. When the Sun Herald was denied access by the State Auditor’s Office the Sun Herald filed a lawsuit against them.
Chancery Court Judge Jennifer Schloegel ruled that the State Auditor’s Office had to turn those records over to the Sun Herald, since they were public records. Before complying, the State Auditor’s Office had those records subpoenaed by a US attorney, which caused Pickering to be held in contempt of court.
U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett ordered those records to be returned to the coast last week.
Just why there was such an effort to keep the records under lock and key is still unknown
