State Resources
Mississippi
Mississippi splits its trial work between chancery and circuit courts, and the chancery clerk holds the land records — which makes the chancery clerk the single most useful office in the state. No statewide case search.
At a glance
| Record | Held by | Cost | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and entity search | Secretary of State | Free to search | Yes |
| UCC filings | Secretary of State — UCC | Free to search | Yes |
| Professional licenses | Individual boards | Free | By board |
| Property and land records | Chancery clerk (records) and tax assessor | Free online in some counties | By county |
| Court records | Chancery and circuit clerks, by county | Varies by county | By county |
| Criminal records | Department of Public Safety | Fee; consent required | Consent required |
| Vital records | State Department of Health, Vital Records | Certified copies carry a fee | Yes |
| Unclaimed property | State Treasury | Free | Yes |
| Voter and resident records | Secretary of State; circuit clerks register | Free | Yes |
Worth knowing about Mississippi
The chancery clerk is the office that matters
Mississippi divides trial courts differently from most states, and the division decides where records live.
Chancery court handles equity: divorce, child custody, wills and estates, guardianship, and land title disputes. The chancery clerk is also the county recorder — deeds, mortgages (called deeds of trust here) and liens all sit in that office.
Circuit court handles felonies and civil actions at law. The circuit clerk also runs voter registration in Mississippi, which is unusual.
So on an asset or family file, the chancery clerk gives you property, estates and divorce in one office. On a criminal or judgment file, the circuit clerk.
Below both sit justice court (small claims, misdemeanors) and county court in the larger counties, which handles evictions. Those are separate again.
No statewide search, and MEC isn’t for you
Mississippi has no free public statewide case search. MEC — Mississippi Electronic Courts — is an electronic filing system for attorneys, modeled on the federal PACER system, and general public access to it is limited.
What works instead is the county. Hinds (Jackson), DeSoto, Harrison and Rankin are the larger counties and several publish free online index searches through their chancery and circuit clerks.
For the rest, the clerk by phone. Mississippi clerks are generally willing to run a name search, and in a state with 82 counties and a small population that is often faster than hunting for a portal that doesn’t exist.
Record by record
Business and entity search
Open business search →- Held by
- Secretary of State
- Cost
- Free to search
Free entity search returning status, formation date, registered agent and the officers or members listed, with filed documents viewable.
Mississippi requires an annual report for corporations. LLC reporting is lighter, so an LLC address may be older than it looks.
UCC filings
Open Business Services →- Held by
- Secretary of State — UCC
- Cost
- Free to search
UCC financing statements filed centrally with the Secretary of State. A UCC-1 names the debtor, the secured party and the collateral.
Mississippi filings frequently describe timber, farm equipment, catfish operations and gaming equipment — asset detail that is hard to get any other way.
Professional licenses
- Held by
- Individual boards
- Cost
- Free
No single statewide lookup. Medical, nursing and contractor licensing each sit with their own board. Search the specific board.
Property and land records
- Held by
- Chancery clerk (records) and tax assessor
- Cost
- Free online in some counties
The chancery clerk records deeds, deeds of trust and liens. The county tax assessor holds ownership and value.
Mississippi uses a deed of trust rather than a mortgage, and it names a trustee as well as the lender. Both parties are useful — the trustee is often a law firm that has the file.
Mississippi also has a homestead exemption recorded at the county, which is the county’s own record of a residency claim.
Court records
Open Mississippi Judiciary →- Held by
- Chancery and circuit clerks, by county
- Cost
- Varies by county
No free statewide case search. Search chancery and circuit separately — they hold different things, as above.
Appellate opinions and dockets are published free by the state judiciary, which is a useful back door when a case was appealed.
Criminal records
Open Public Safety →- Held by
- Department of Public Safety
- Cost
- Fee; consent required
Mississippi doesn’t sell a name-based criminal history to the general public. A check on another person requires the subject’s signed consent and fingerprints.
The circuit clerk in the relevant county is the practical route. Mississippi also publishes a free sex offender registry and an inmate lookup through the Department of Corrections.
Vital records
Open vital records →- Held by
- State Department of Health, Vital Records
- Cost
- Certified copies carry a fee
Births, deaths, marriages and divorces from the state office. Mississippi restricts certified copies to people with a direct interest.
Unclaimed property
Open unclaimed property →- Held by
- State Treasury
- Cost
- Free
Free name search. The holder named on a reported item is a confirmed bank, insurer or employer relationship with a last known address.
Voter and resident records
Open elections and voting →- Held by
- Secretary of State; circuit clerks register
- Cost
- Free
Individual registration lookup. Note that in Mississippi the circuit clerk handles voter registration at county level, so the county office is often the faster answer.
Public records requests in Mississippi
- Statute
- Miss. Code §§ 25-61-1 et seq. (Public Records Act)
- Response deadline
- Seven working days
- Appeal to
- Ethics Commission, or chancery court
- Appeal window
- No fixed deadline
Seven working days to produce or to deny in writing with the specific reason and the statutory basis.
Mississippi routes complaints through the Ethics Commission, which mediates and can issue orders. It is free, needs no lawyer, and is considerably faster than chancery court.
The Commission can also recommend civil penalties against a public body that denies access in bad faith.
No residency requirement. Fees are limited to the actual cost of searching and reproducing, and a public body must post its fee schedule — ask for it if an estimate looks high.
What Mississippi will not give you
- Name-based criminal history. Not sold to the public. Consent and fingerprints required.
- Expunged records. Removed from the public index.
- Driver and vehicle records. Closed under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
- Youth court records. Not public.
- A statewide case search. Does not exist. MEC is an attorney filing system, not a public portal.
Course
How to Find Out Where Someone Banks
The chancery clerk holds the deeds of trust and the liens, and every one of them names a lender. The course walks the full sequence for turning those filings into the institution that actually holds the money.
See the bank locate courseRelated
- Louisiana — parishes and civil law next door
- Alabama — statewide courts, behind a paywall
- Tennessee — 95 counties and a citizens-only records law
- Property records: finding the owner
- UCC filings name the lender
Fees and procedures verified August 2026. Clerks change their counter rules more often than the statutes change — call before you drive.