How to Search George County Court Records
George County does not run one combined public case search that covers every court. There is no single portal where you type a name and see all circuit, chancery, justice, and municipal cases at once. The only official online records system is the Chancery Clerk land records portal, and it covers recorded land documents rather than criminal or civil dockets. Because of that, the fastest way to find a record is to match the record to the office that keeps it, then contact that office by counter visit, phone, fax, or email.
The county government home page is the best starting map for those offices. The official portal at georgecountyms.com links the Circuit Clerk, Chancery Clerk, Justice Court, courts, and Sheriff pages in one place.
The county home page screen capture below shows how the office links are arranged for first-time visitors.
From that home page you can reach each court department, which is exactly where a George County court records search should begin. Use the steps below to move through a land records or office search in order.
- Decide which court holds the file: Circuit Court for felonies and larger civil suits, Chancery Court for divorce, estates, and land, Justice Court for small claims and most citations, or Lucedale Municipal Court for city tickets.
- For land and recorded instruments, open the Chancery Clerk portal at georgecountyrecords.com and accept the terms of usage.
- Enter a party name in last name, first name order, or search by book and page, instrument number, parcel, or legal description.
- Narrow the results with a begin date, an end date, or a recently filed window of the last 7, 30, or 90 days.
- For circuit, criminal, justice, or probate files that are not in the portal, call the matching clerk and ask for the case by name and approximate date, then request a certified copy if you need one for court.
The George County Judicial System
Mississippi places the Mississippi Supreme Court at the top, with the Mississippi Court of Appeals as the intermediate appellate court for assigned cases. Below them, George County divides trial work among several courts. Circuit Court is the broad law and criminal trial court. Chancery Court is the equity, family, and probate venue. County Court and Youth Court handle selected county and juvenile matters, Justice Court is the lower court for small claims and citations, and Lucedale Municipal Court handles city cases.
Most criminal and civil cases follow a clear path through these levels. A misdemeanor or citation often begins in Justice or Municipal Court, while felonies and larger civil actions are tried in Circuit Court, and appeals climb from there.
Case flow: Justice Court or Municipal Court › County Court › Circuit Court › Mississippi Court of Appeals › Mississippi Supreme Court
| Court | Jurisdiction | Case Types |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | General trial, law side | Felonies, misdemeanors, bastardy, civil actions, appeals from County Court |
| Chancery Court | Equity and family | Divorce, custody, property division, adoption, alimony, estates, land, commitments |
| County Court | Limited county jurisdiction | Selected county matters; Youth Court is a division for minors under 18 |
| Justice Court | Lower civil and criminal | Civil claims under $3,500, misdemeanors, felony preliminaries, many traffic citations |
| Lucedale Municipal Court | City based | City ordinance cases, misdemeanors, and city traffic violations |
The judges spread across these courts. Circuit Court lists Judges Keith Miller, Kathy Jackson, and Calvin Taylor. Chancery Court lists Judges Ashlee Cole, Mark Maples, and Neil Harris. County Court is associated with Judge Mark Maples, and Youth Court with Judge Darryl Hurt, Jr. Justice Court seats two judges, Mike Bullock for District 1 and Marty Davis for District 2.
Which George County Office Holds Your Record
George County splits its clerks, which surprises many people who expect one counter for everything. The Circuit Clerk and the Chancery Clerk are two separate elected offices in the same courthouse, and they keep very different files. Sending a request to the wrong clerk is the most common reason a records search stalls. Matching the record to the office first saves a second trip.
Circuit Clerk Chad Welford handles Circuit Court civil and criminal files, the judgment roll, criminal fines, marriage licenses, voter registration, and jury duty. Chancery Clerk Cammie Brannan Byrd handles land records, chancery cases, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, divorces, adoptions, Youth Court files, and Board of Supervisors minutes. The comparison below sorts the two offices by what they keep and how to reach them.
| Feature | Circuit Clerk | Chancery Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| Clerk | Chad Welford | Cammie Brannan Byrd |
| Main records | Civil and criminal court files, judgment roll, criminal fines | Land records, estates, divorces, guardianships, Board minutes |
| Also handles | Marriage licenses, voter registration, jury duty | Adoptions, conservatorships, Youth Court files, mental writs |
| Phone | 601-947-4881 | 601-947-4801 |
| Online tool | 2026 Circuit Court calendar | Land records portal (subscription) |
For lower level matters, Justice Court Clerk and Administrator Angela Edwards keeps small claims, misdemeanor, preliminary hearing, and citation files at 368 Cox Street. City tickets and municipal fines route to Lucedale through the Police Department and City Hall.
Types of Court Records Available in George County
George County court records span many case types because the work is divided across so many courts. The records range from felony files and civil judgments to divorce decrees, estate files, and traffic citations. Public access runs through the office that created the file, and some categories carry legal restrictions that keep them off the open counter.
The main categories that George County residents request most often appear below, grouped by the court that produces them.
- Criminal records - Felony and misdemeanor case files kept by the Circuit Clerk, separate from arrest and booking records held by the Sheriff.
- Civil records - Lawsuits, judgments, and County Court appeals filed in Circuit Court, plus small claims under $3,500 in Justice Court.
- Family and divorce records - Divorce, custody, and alimony files held by the Chancery Clerk, with certified decrees issued by that office.
- Probate records - Estates, wills, guardianships, and conservatorships filed in Chancery Court and kept by the Chancery Clerk.
- Traffic records - Citations from the Highway Patrol, Sheriff, MDOT, and other agencies in Justice Court, plus city tickets in Municipal Court.
Land records, Youth Court files, and mental health commitments round out the list, though juvenile and commitment files are restricted rather than open to the public.
What George County Court Records Show
The fields in a George County court record depend on the court that built the file. A Circuit Clerk case file usually names the case number, the parties, the filing date, the charge or cause, hearing dates, the judge, the disposition, and any judgment or sentence. A Justice Court record often lists a citation number, the officer or agency, the charge, the court date, the fine, and any failure to appear status. Chancery files track petitions, orders, inventories, and property descriptions.
The table below shows the core fields a reader will most often see on a circuit case file and what each one means.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | The unique court file number used to pull every document in the case |
| Filing Date | The date the case opened with the clerk |
| Parties | The plaintiff and defendant, or the petitioner and respondent |
| Charges / Cause | The criminal charge filed or the legal basis of a civil suit |
| Disposition | The outcome, such as guilty, dismissed, or judgment for one side |
| Sentence / Judgment | The penalty or money award ordered by the court |
Public copies leave out protected details. Social Security numbers, financial account data, sealed or expunged matters, juvenile names, and active investigation files are kept out of the open record.
Searching the George County Land Records Portal
The Chancery Clerk runs the county's only official online records search, and it covers recorded land documents. The portal at georgecountyrecords.com gives Internet access to the index of George County land records such as deeds, deeds of trust, wills with land effect, and cancellations. As of May 2020 the site requires a registered subscription account, with monthly and yearly options. The portal also warns that the online index is not the official index, since the official land records index stays at the courthouse.
The portal offers a deep set of search fields. The main ones a typical user reaches for are listed below as they appear on the form.
| Field Label | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Search All / Grantee / Grantor | Radio | Search All is the default name direction |
| Full Name | Text | Entered as lastname, firstname |
| Begin Date / End Date | Date | Earliest value 1/1/1800 |
| Recently Filed | Radio | Last 7, Last 30, or Last 90 days |
| Instrument Type | Multiselect | Defaults to All Types |
| Book / Page | Text | Used with a greater than page filter |
| Parcel ID / Legal Desc. | Text | Property based lookup |
A matching instrument opens a detail panel with the instrument number, book and page, instrument type, file date, page count, description, related instruments, and a document image viewer. Online copies bought by credit card are final, and a 3.5 percent service fee with a $2 minimum applies. For case dockets and older paper files, the clerk counter remains the reliable route.
Public Access Laws for George County Court Records
Mississippi treats court and government records as open to the public unless a specific law makes them confidential. The Mississippi Public Records Act sets the general rule, and the courts add their own policy for judiciary administrative records. A request should start with the office that created or keeps the record, since that office controls access, copy fees, and any redaction. The statutes below frame how access works in George County.
Key Statutes:
Miss. Code Ann. § 25-61-1 et seq. - The Mississippi Public Records Act makes public records open for inspection by any person unless another law exempts them.
Mississippi Ethics Commission complaint process - A person who is denied public records can file a complaint with the Ethics Commission to challenge the denial.
Mississippi Judiciary Public Records Policy - Judiciary administrative records follow their own public records and appeal procedure, separate from a clerk's case files.
Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-71 - Eligible dismissed, dropped, first offense, and certain other cases may be expunged by petition to the court that handled the case.
The Public Records Act supports access, but requesters still must respect sealed records, juvenile and adoption confidentiality, open investigation limits, and the fee rules each office sets.
Restricted and Confidential George County Records
Some George County records are kept from ordinary public view by law. Youth Court files cover children under 18 in delinquency, supervision, neglect, and abuse cases, and they are confidential unless a court authorizes access. Adoption records are not ordinary public files. Mental health commitments handled in Chancery Court involve medical detail and stay restricted. The Sheriff also withholds records tied to an open or active investigation until the case is closed, except where discovery applies.
Expunction is the process that removes an eligible criminal record from public access. Under Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-71, categories can include first offense non traffic misdemeanors, certain felony convictions after eligibility, and cases where an arrest was made but the case was dismissed, dropped, or never reached a disposition. The petition is filed in the court that handled the matter.
- Identify the court where the charge or conviction was filed, whether Justice, Municipal, County, or Circuit Court.
- Confirm the case meets a category under the expunction statute.
- File the petition in that court, since a clerk cannot expunge a record on request alone.
- Obtain the signed court order, then confirm that public access has been removed.
Note: Expunction filing fees were not published in official George County sources, so confirm the current cost with the clerk for the specific court before filing.
Specialty Programs and Diversion in George County
No official George County page lists a formal drug court, veterans court, mental health court, or DUI court. Rather than imply a specialty docket that the research did not confirm, it is more honest to point to the related programs that do exist. Several run through the District Attorney for the 19th Judicial District, which covers Jackson, George, and Greene counties and handles between 2,500 and 3,500 criminal cases a year on average.
The District Attorney lists three programs that can shape how a charge moves through the system. Each has its own direct phone line.
- Pre-Trial Diversion Program - An alternative track for eligible defendants; reach the program at 228-769-3490.
- Worthless Check Unit - Handles bad check matters that can lead to charges; reach the unit at 228-769-3234.
- Victim Support Services - Supports victims as a case moves forward; reach the office at 228-769-3365.
The Chancery Court side handles mental health commitments, and the Chancery Clerk records drug, alcohol, and mental writs, which is the closest local equivalent to a treatment docket. You can read more about the 19th District office on the District Attorney page.
George County Sheriff and Jail Records
The George County Sheriff is Mitchell Mixon, who was elected in August 2023 and sworn in on January 2, 2024 by Judge Mark Maples at the courthouse. The Sheriff is the county's chief law enforcement officer and runs the jail, booking, accident reports, and fingerprinting. The main office is at 355 Cox Street, Lucedale, with a phone line of 601-947-4811. The official county Sheriff page outlines those duties and links to the Sheriff's own site.
The county Sheriff page at georgecountyms.com/sheriff.html names the Sheriff and describes his law enforcement role.
That county page is a good overview, but the day to day tools live on the Sheriff's separate web app. The Sheriff's Office site at georgecountymssheriff.com hosts inmate search, jail info, tip forms, and sex offender links.
The web app exposes an inmate roster feed, commissary, visitation, mail, and phone service pages. The inmate roster itself is built as an app style feed, so the live lookup is mainly an app feature. For a full walkthrough of the roster, visitation rules, and booking details, see the George County inmate records page, and check the warrant records page for outstanding warrant guidance.
The Sheriff's tools are easiest to use through the official mobile app. The share page at apps.myocv.com is the official download link for the George County Sheriff's Office app.
The same app is published in both major app stores. The Apple version is listed on the App Store page for iPhone and iPad users.
Android users download it from Google. The Google Play listing carries the same inmate search and tip features as the Apple build.
For sentenced state inmates who have moved into state custody, use the Mississippi Department of Corrections search rather than the county roster. For urgent custody questions, call the Sheriff's Office directly, since the online feed can lag.
Marriage, Divorce, and Probate Records
Marriage and divorce records sit with two different George County offices. Marriage licenses come from the Circuit Clerk at the front of the courthouse. Divorce decrees come from the Chancery Clerk, since Chancery Court hears divorce, custody, and alimony cases. The Mississippi State Department of Health does not keep divorce decrees, though it offers a five year index search for $17 that points you to the county, book, and page where the decree was recorded. For a certified copy you still contact the Chancery Clerk directly.
Probate also runs through Chancery Court and the Chancery Clerk. Estate files can include the petition, the will, letters of administration, an inventory, creditor notices, and the final accounting. You can review the office on the marriage and divorce records page and the probate records page. A few common estate terms are defined below.
- Testator
- A person who makes a will and leaves it to direct an estate.
- Executor
- The person named in a will to carry out its terms and settle the estate.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will, which sends the estate to state heirship rules.
- Conservator
- A person the court appoints to manage the property or finances of an adult who cannot.
- Guardian
- A person the court appoints to care for a minor or an incapacitated person.
George County Court Records Fees
Fees in George County depend on which office produces the copy. The Sheriff publishes a clear set of charges for the records it handles, and the land portal posts a credit card service fee. The Circuit Clerk and Chancery Clerk copy fees were not published in official county sources, so those should be confirmed with the clerk before you visit. The table below lists the fees that official sources do state.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sheriff accident report | $15.00, exact cash only |
| Sheriff fingerprinting | $20 first card, $5 each added card |
| Sheriff process service | $45 per process, plus $5 per added person |
| Land portal online copy fee | 3.5% with a $2 minimum, non refundable |
| Clerk plain and certified copies | Not published, confirm with the clerk |
Municipal court fines can be paid online through the City of Lucedale. The city home page at cityoflucedale.com states that the city accepts online credit card payments for water bills and court fines.
That online channel handles city tickets, while Justice Court and circuit fines are paid through their own offices. Always confirm accepted payment methods before you go, because some Sheriff services require exact cash.
Courthouse Location and Contact Information
The George County courthouse stands at 355 Cox Street in Lucedale, and the same address serves the Circuit Clerk, Chancery Clerk, Circuit Court, Chancery Court, Youth Court, and the Sheriff's main office. The government cluster is compact, with Justice Court a few doors away at 368 Cox Street and the County Prosecutor at 362 Summer Street. The address cards below collect the offices most records seekers need.
City matters route to Lucedale City Hall at 5126 Main Street. The City Hall page at cityoflucedale.com lists the municipal address, phone, and email for the city.
City Hall and the Lucedale Police Department at 545 Oak Street handle city tickets and municipal court fines, which are separate from the county court offices on Cox Street.
George County Court Modernization and History
George County's record story is mostly a paper to digital one, and the Chancery Clerk has driven it. The office calls itself the county's official record keeper and says it records the present and protects the county's past. It digitally scanned 31 years of land records and stored copies off site for safety, then rebuilt the filing system for both land and court records. The office paid for those upgrades from the Chancery Clerk fee account, which the county says saved taxpayers money.
The same office was the first Chancery Clerk's Office in the district to join the Mississippi Electronic Court system, which lets attorneys e-file court documents. The Chancery Clerk also keeps Board of Supervisors minutes and an edition of nearly every local newspaper dating back to the 1910s, giving the courthouse an archival role well beyond modern cases. On the law enforcement side, Sheriff Mitchell Mixon's January 2024 swearing in at the courthouse marked the most recent leadership change in the county's public safety offices.
Recent George County Court and Safety Updates
Several recent items affect how George County's courts and law enforcement operate, even when they are not case filings. The Circuit Clerk publishes a 2026 Circuit Court calendar, which is the current annual scheduling resource for circuit cases. Public safety upgrades have also moved forward over the past year.
- March 25, 2025 - The county received a first payment of $900,000 from a COPS grant for a regional emergency communication array and tower.
- April 7, 2025 - Supervisors approved opening negotiations with Motorola Solutions for a P25 radio system and a 911 dispatch center project.
- January 2, 2024 - Sheriff Mitchell Mixon was sworn in at the George County Courthouse to begin his first term.
These projects touch sheriff communications, jail response, and courthouse coordination, so they belong in any current picture of George County public safety. They do not change how court records are requested, which still runs office by office.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there one website to search all George County court cases?
No. George County does not run a single public portal that covers every court. The only official online records search is the Chancery Clerk land records portal, and it covers recorded land documents rather than criminal or civil dockets. For other cases, contact the clerk that holds the file, such as the Circuit Clerk for circuit cases or Justice Court for small claims and citations.
How do I search George County land records online?
Open the Chancery Clerk portal at georgecountyrecords.com, accept the terms of usage, and search by party name, book and page, instrument number, parcel, or legal description. The site requires a registered subscription account, with monthly and yearly options. Online copies bought by card are final, and a 3.5 percent service fee with a $2 minimum applies to those purchases.
Where do I get a George County marriage license or divorce decree?
Marriage licenses come from the Circuit Clerk at 355 Cox Street, reached at 601-947-4881. Divorce decrees come from the Chancery Clerk at the same address, reached at 601-947-4801, because Chancery Court hears divorce cases. The Mississippi State Department of Health can run a divorce index search to find the county, book, and page, but the certified decree itself comes from the Chancery Clerk.
How do I find someone in the George County jail?
Use the Sheriff's Office web app or mobile app, which carries the inmate search feed for current county detainees. The live lookup is mainly an app feature, so the mobile version is the most reliable tool. For sentenced state inmates, search the Mississippi Department of Corrections instead, and call the Sheriff's Office at 601-947-4811 for urgent custody questions.
Can I check for a George County warrant online?
No official George County online warrant list was found on the county or Sheriff sites. To check for a warrant, contact the court most likely to have issued it, such as Justice Court for citations, Lucedale Municipal Court for city tickets, or Circuit Court for felonies. The Sheriff's Office at 601-947-4811 can answer arrest warrant and custody questions.
How do I expunge a George County criminal record?
Expunction runs through the court that handled the case, under Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-71. Identify whether the matter was in Justice, Municipal, County, or Circuit Court, confirm the case fits an eligible category, then file a petition there. A clerk cannot clear a record on request alone, since a signed court order is required. Confirm the filing fee with that court.
What does a George County court records request cost?
It depends on the office. The Sheriff charges $15 for an accident report, $20 for the first fingerprint card, and $45 for process service, all in exact cash. The land portal adds a 3.5 percent card fee with a $2 minimum. Circuit Clerk and Chancery Clerk copy fees were not published, so confirm those rates with the clerk before you visit.