The process for sealing court records shall be governed by Rule 79 of The
Uniform Local Civil Rules of the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi
EXCEPT for the following specific documents:
(A) Charging Instruments and Warrants. The government may seek to seal
charging instruments and warrants as directed by the court.
(B) Plea Agreements.
(1) All plea agreements shall be submitted with original signatures in paper
format to the court and shall be sanitized by the drafter of any references to
cooperation. After a plea has been accepted in open court, plea
agreements shall be scanned and electronically filed as public, unsealed
documents.
(2) All plea agreements shall be accompanied by a sealed document titled
“Plea Supplement.” The Plea Supplement will also contain the
government’s sentencing recommendation. The Plea Supplement will be
electronically filed under seal. All cases will be docketed identically with
reference to a sealed Plea Supplement, regardless of whether or not a
cooperation agreement exists.
(3) The district judge may order the entire plea agreement to be sealed for a
specified period of time if the court finds that exceptional circumstances
exist warranting the sealing of the agreement.
(C) Motions for Sentence Reductions based on Cooperation with the
Government.
(1) Government motions filed pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 35 or Section
5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines or 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e)
shall be filed under seal without prior leave of court.
(2) The government must provide notice to counsel for the defendant that such
motion has been filed and provide defense counsel with a copy of the
motion. Defense counsel may not copy or distribute the motion nor may
they reveal the contents of the motion to anyone other than their client
without prior leave of court.
(3) Said motions will remain under seal indefinitely unless and until a court
enters an order directing that they be unsealed.
