Mississippi Court Records

Mississipi Court Record Lookup

Mississippi MS court records have many purposes and for that reason are important to retain: with the proper documents a person may enforce an eviction, settle a child custody claim, collect an inheritance, show that a probationary period is over, or clear one’s driving record. These records are public documents and therefore available to anyone who makes a request, they may also be viewed by performing Mississipi court records search online.

Trial courts

Chancery courts are divided into 20 districts with jurisdiction over family cases, the mentally infirm, wills, and in some places, juvenile cases as well. There were over 59,000 cases filed in chancery courts across the state in a recent year.

Circuit courts are located in 22 districts across the state and hold trials for criminal and civil cases, like Mississipi child support and custody matters. There were over 19,000 civil and 21,000 criminal cases filed in circuit courts in a recent year, which can be found through Mississippi criminal records search.

County courts have jurisdiction over civil cases valued under $200,000, limited criminal cases, eminent domain cases, and juvenile court, but responsibilities vary from one location to another. There are 20 county courts in the state that handled over 29,000 cases filed recently, which can be accessed via Mississippi court case lookup.

Drug courts are designed to divert nonviolent offenders from the mainstream legal system and to provide access to treatment programs. Mentioned Mississippi courthouses served over 5,200 individuals in a recent year.

Justice courts handle misdemeanor cases and civil suits up to $3,500 in value and some traffic tickets. There are 82 justice courts in the state.

Youth courts in Mississippi are known as juvenile courts elsewhere. These courts have jurisdiction over abuse and neglect of juveniles as well as cases of juvenile crime.

Municipal courts are in 237 locations across the state, with jurisdiction over misdemeanor offenses, traffic violations, and municipal ordinance violations. Via Mississippi court record lookup anyone can access Mississippi court records online

Appellate courts

The state’s intermediate appellate court is assigned cases by the state supreme court. It determines if lower courts followed the law correctly.

Along with taking selected cases from lower courts on appeal, the state supreme court oversees the state bar, has jurisdiction over election issues, and decides questions of constitutionality.

Federal courts

Those who file for bankruptcy, join a class action suit or violate federal law will have his case handled in U.S. District Court, a federal court. Each state has a federal court. Retrieving records of these cases is a matter of searching online for docket information and submitting a records request.

Mississippi Notable Court Cases

A federal court stopped Mississippi from enforcing a new law that shields businesses that don't want to serve gay, lesbian, transgender, or queer customers out of a sense of religious conviction. The law seeks to allow businesses to deny services to anyone whose lifestyle conflicts with the business owner's religious beliefs, but federal courts are thus far preventing its implementation. The governor of Mississippi may appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

The state Supreme Court overruled a circuit court judge's injunction that prevented a new "'open carry" firearms law to go into effect. The circuit court judge had determined that the law was vague and therefore likely unconstitutional, so he delayed it for 60 days. The Supreme Court vacated the judge's injunction and put the law into effect.