Judge delays DMR records ruling

From Sun Herald: GULFPORT — Chancery Court Judge Jennifer Schloegel said Friday she will wait to see how a hearing in federal court plays out before she rules on whether the state auditor is in contempt in her court over his failure to produce public records.

And she also stepped back from her order earlier this week that State Auditor Stacey Pickering and the state Department of Marine Resources produce by Monday the DMR records the Sun Herald is seeking, records that Pickering says are part of a state and federal investigation.

The Sun Herald has sued Pickering for access to the records his office seized from the DMR. And it asked the court to find him in contempt when lieutenants in his office defied an Oct. 31 order by Schloegel and whisked the records away to Jackson under a federal grand jury subpoena.

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