Mississippi Public Records Act: Request for email correspondence on COVID-19 postmortem testing

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Mississippi Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

All email correspondence, and all underlying documentation contained herein, between January 1st, 2020 and the date that this request is ultimately fulfilled, sent to, from or copied to state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers that contains the following non-case-sensitive-key-string: ‘post-mortem testing’ or “postmortem testing.”

We, Documenting COVID-19, are a nonprofit organization working on behalf of news organizations, academics and other public bodies to provide clear, timely information for public dissemination. We have recently published our findings in The New York Times, The Washington Post and other publications.

This information is in the public interest as coronavirus remains a threat to public health. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer than the required amount of time, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.

Please provide any responsive records in electronic format by email attachment, if at all possible.

For any documents that are withheld on the grounds of an exemption, privilege, or other reason, please justify each omission separately by reference to specific exemptions of the law, and release all reasonably segregable portions of otherwise exempt material.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Dillon Bergin