Mississippi Public Records Act provides a right of every citizen to have access to the Mississippi (MS) Arrest Records. These records are available online through the government-run websites or a few private ones. Most of these services are available to the public at no cost.

The arrest records help to know about the background of a person.

When is an arrest legal?

An arrest of a person is legal when –

1. There is a valid arrest warrant issued against a person or persons.
2. When the crime takes place in the presence of a police officer.
3. When there is no arrest warrant, but a police officer thinks there is a “Probable Cause”.

If none of these are true, then the arrest is not legal.

What is a Probable Cause?

The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution allows for the Probable Cause, and it allows and authorizes police officers to arrest a person or persons when the police think that there are enough grounds to believe that the person or persons in questions have committed a crime. It also authorizes the police to search and seize any property that may be necessary to establish the crime.

Why is there a provision of probable cause?

There is a provision of the probable cause in the constitution to prevent harassment of the public by the police, where the police can simply arrest or search someone’s property without having any reasonable cause for doing so.

How is Probable Cause determined to be sufficient grounds for arrest?

The police officers conducting the arrest or search and seize of property can think that they have a probable cause, and the same needs to be told to the people being arrested.

However, a judge can determine later if the probable cause was valid or not. To determine if the probable cause was enough to warrant an arrest, the police must provide enough information to prove that the probable cause was indeed valid.

What happens when a probable cause is determined to be invalid?

In case the probable cause is determined as invalid by a judge, then any evidence obtained by such an arrest, search and seize is inadmissible in the court of law.

What happens if an individual is acquitted after an arrest with probable cause?

In case an individual is acquitted, establishing and proving the probable cause makes sure that the police officers do no face lawsuits when they arrest someone, and the individuals are acquitted.

David Bryan is the author of this article. For further detail about Mississippi Public Records. Please visit the website: https://mississippi.staterecords.org/criminal.php