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A Mississippi law now prohibits state agencies from disclosing records involving children without exceptions – a change that took effect Wednesday.
This new legal landscape, according to state officials, could thwart the functions of several government entities, such as the child protection agency and the courts that oversee the cases of abused or neglected youth.
Sgt. Jonathan Blakeney, who works in Pascagoula Police Department’s criminal investigations division, said he learned Wednesday morning that the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services will no longer refer reports about child abuse or neglect to his department. He estimates his office typically receives around five such reports a week, which it investigates to determine whether charges are warranted.
“I cannot tell you how many hours a week I spend on the phone exchanging valuable information with CPS workers for the sole purpose of keeping children safe, and now that ability to work together has been taken away,” he told Mississippi Today.
To circumvent the problem, several youth court judges have issued standing orders allowing for the limited disclosure of these records – such as investigative reports, court filings, medical and educational records – to judicial officers, lawyers, law enforcement and service providers.
On Tuesday, CPS filed an emergency motion with the Mississippi Supreme Court to prevent these orders from taking effect.
No one, including CPS, publicly supported the law change that occurred Wednesday. It is regarded as a legislative blunder. The agency specifically asked Gov. Tate Reeves to call a special legislative session to rectify it.
But still, CPS has moved to block the judicial workaround, arguing it is not the proper fix. CPS claims the patchwork of orders by local judges are unlawful and would force state employees to break the law.
This is especially concerning, the agency contends, considering the hardship its workers already endure under contradictory legal constraints and a climate in which “youth court judges exert extreme control and direction of agency employees.”
“Historically, Mississippi youth courts have a reputation for being punitive and abusive to MDCPS employees who are subjected to conflicting verbal and written orders,” the motion states.
It warned against possible sanctions, retribution and contempt proceedings against child protection workers. On Wednesday evening, the Mississippi Supreme Court granted the agency’s request to prevent the orders from taking effect and told the judges to respond to the petition by July 8.
At issue is a state law that places blanket confidentiality on youth courts across the state. A separate provision that provides exceptions to that secrecy – which allow judicial officers, the child protection agency, providers and lawyers to communicate information – was removed from state law Wednesday. Without the exceptions, the laws left in place make it a misdemeanor to share any records involving children with anybody.
This change was due to a repealer that lawmakers added to the law two years ago as it contemplated broad reforms to the state’s youth court structure. When a repealer is included in a state law, the law goes away on a specified date unless the Legislature passes a bill to reenact it. The Legislature’s intent in including the repealer was to force lawmakers to introduce a new court structure or maintain the status quo.
Blakeney, the police investigator in Pascagoula, said there was nothing broken about the specific law they let lapse. “It seems like an uninformed gamble,” he said, describing the Legislature’s strategy.
Instead of handling the repealer during the 2026 session, lawmakers went home. While the Senate was taking up the youth court bill on the floor in the last days of the session, senators learned the House had adjourned before passing the bill, causing its demise and thrusting the youth court world into tumult.
The Office of the State Public Defender is also sounding the alarm about the effect of blanket confidentiality on the due process rights of parents and children who find themselves in youth court and face barriers accessing their own court records. The defense lawyers have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Administrative Office of the Courts, the custodian of the statewide youth court case management system.
Blakeney’s department has urged hospitals and schools in his area to call the police about crimes against children, in addition to reporting to CPS.
