Lincoln County Court Records Lookup

How to Search Lincoln County Court Records

Lincoln County does not run one unified free portal that covers every court level, so a successful search starts by matching the record to the office that holds it. Circuit and Chancery trial-court documents are filed through Mississippi Electronic Courts (MEC) or kept at the courthouse clerk counters; the Circuit Clerk's Delta Computer Systems landing page is mostly a local index that notes judgment roll, civil, and criminal cases are now filed in MEC. Land records run through the Chancery Clerk's Delta search, marriage records through a separate Circuit Clerk search, and Justice and Municipal matters are handled at their own offices.

Before you begin, gather the party names, an approximate filing year, the cause number if you have it, and the type of document you need. The official page at the Lincoln County Circuit Clerk page identifies the current clerk and her contact details for Circuit and marriage records.

That same office issues process, draws juries, keeps judgments, and issues marriage licenses, which makes it the front door for most Circuit Court record requests. The general path below works for almost any Lincoln County court record search.

1. Identify the court. Felonies, circuit civil suits, judgments, and appeals point to Circuit Court; divorce, custody, estates, and land disputes point to Chancery Court; county traffic, DUIs, and small claims point to Justice Court; city citations point to Brookhaven Municipal Court.
2. Start with the official county pages for addresses and clerk contacts, and avoid third-party records databases.
3. Check the Circuit Clerk Delta landing page for civil and criminal indexes, remembering it points current filings to MEC.
4. Use MEC for e-filed trial-court documents, or view filings free on a public terminal at the courthouse.
5. Search the Chancery Clerk Delta tool for deeds and instruments, or the Circuit Clerk marriage search for marriage index entries.
6. Request copies or certified copies from the clerk that holds the record by phone, email, fax, mail, or in person.

The Lincoln County Judicial System

Mississippi keeps an older split between law and equity, and Lincoln County reflects it directly. The Circuit Court is the general-jurisdiction trial court for felony prosecutions, civil actions not assigned elsewhere, jury trials, and appeals from the lower courts, while the Chancery Court is the equity court for divorce, custody, estates, guardianships, and land-title matters. Below those sit the Justice Court for county-level cases, the Brookhaven Municipal Court for city matters, and the Youth Court for juvenile cases. Appeals move up to the Mississippi Court of Appeals and the Mississippi Supreme Court depending on case type and assignment.

Lincoln County belongs to the 14th Circuit Court District alongside Pike and Walthall Counties, and to the 15th Chancery District. The Mississippi Judiciary publishes a plain overview of how these trial courts fit together at the state trial-court overview, which explains the jurisdiction of each court level.

That structure determines where a Lincoln County court record is created and which clerk you contact to read it.

Case flow: Justice Court › Circuit Court › Court of Appeals › Mississippi Supreme Court

Lincoln County Court Types Compared

Because the work is split, the most common mistake is calling the wrong clerk. A divorce filed in Chancery Court will never appear in the Circuit Clerk's index, and a sheriff's traffic ticket handled in Justice Court will not be found in the Municipal Court system. The official county courts page at the Lincoln County courts page lists the addresses and judges for each court so you can confirm the right venue before traveling downtown.

The comparison below summarizes how the trial courts and their clerks divide Lincoln County court records.

Types of Court Records Available in Lincoln County

Lincoln County court records span the full range of trial-level matters, and the records you can reach depend on the court that produced them. Circuit Court generates felony and civil case files, Chancery Court generates family and probate files plus recorded land instruments, and the lower courts generate traffic, misdemeanor, and city-ordinance records. Some categories, especially juvenile and adoption files, are confidential and are not part of ordinary public access.

The most frequently requested categories break down as follows.

• Criminal records - Felony indictments, pleas, judgments, and sentences from Circuit Court, distinct from the jail booking list.
• Civil records - Complaints, answers, motions, orders, judgments, and enrolled executions kept by the Circuit Clerk.
• Family and divorce records - Divorce, custody, support, and alimony files handled by the Chancery Court.
• Probate records - Estates, wills, guardianships, and conservatorships administered in Chancery Court.
• Traffic records - County tickets and DUIs in Justice Court, city citations in Brookhaven Municipal Court.

What Lincoln County Court Records Show

A Lincoln County court file is organized around a case caption and a chronological docket. Mississippi forms use a cause number to identify each matter, and the docket lists every filing and order in date sequence. Criminal files name the State of Mississippi against a defendant, civil files name a plaintiff and defendant, and equity files name a petitioner and respondent. The fields below appear across most court records, though formats vary by court.

Public Access Laws for Lincoln County Court Records

Public access in Lincoln County starts with the Mississippi Public Records Act and is shaped by the courts' own openness policy. Non-confidential county records are generally available for inspection, while court files follow court rules, clerk procedure, and confidentiality exceptions. Online portals are convenience copies only; the Circuit Clerk's landing page warns that official courthouse records control when they differ from an online copy.

Records That Are Restricted or Confidential

Not every Lincoln County court record is open to the public. Youth Court files involving delinquency, children in need of supervision, and abuse or neglect are generally confidential and are limited to the child, parents, attorneys, court officials, and authorized agencies. Adoption files, mental-health commitments, and minor settlements are also restricted, and personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers, account numbers, and dates of birth are routinely redacted. Sealed and expunged criminal records should not be treated as ordinary open cases.

Mississippi sets youth and child-record confidentiality under Miss. Code Ann. Sections 43-21-255, 43-21-259, and 43-21-261, and handles divorce as a Chancery Court equity matter under Section 93-5, where sensitive filings may be sealed. To view a sealed or expunged record, a person typically must file a petition in the court that handled the original case and show statutory eligibility, after which a judge controls access by order.

Specialty Courts and Jail Sessions in Lincoln County

The best-documented specialty program tied to Lincoln County is the 14th Circuit Drug Court, which serves the same Lincoln, Pike, and Walthall district as the Circuit Court. Mississippi Judiciary news reported that the program marked its 25th year in 2024. Drug courts generally target eligible nonviolent defendants with substance-use issues and use supervised treatment, testing, court reviews, sanctions, and incentives, and local jail roster entries showing time served for a drug-court violation confirm that it can affect custody status. Eligibility, fees, and phase details are not posted on an official county page, so the Circuit Clerk and Circuit Court are the contacts for current information.

A hyper-local procedural feature also belongs here. All felony cases are first heard in Justice Court for an initial appearance and the filing of an affidavit, and Justice Court judges hold court sessions at the jail three times each week so that arrested persons receive an initial appearance within three days. This explains why a person can appear on the jail roster before any Circuit Court indictment or MEC case is visible.

Lincoln County Sheriff and Jail

The Lincoln County Sheriff is Steve Rushing, and the Sheriff's Office and Detention Center are located together at 215 Justice Street in Brookhaven. The sheriff is elected at-large for a four-year term and serves as the county jailer, and the jail hosts an average population of about 85 people per day, with separate areas for male and female inmates and a separate facility for juveniles. The official sheriff page at the Lincoln County Sheriff page lists the office contact details and duties.

The Sheriff's Office also publishes an online inmate roster and a 2025 mobile app, the Lincoln County MS Sheriff app on Apple and Google Play, which packages inmates, most wanted, sex offenders, and crime tips. Roster information is provided for convenience and cannot be certified, so anyone needing a correct bond amount, charge, or case number should call Detention Center staff at 601-833-5231. For the full booking list see the Lincoln County inmate records page, and for active warrant labels see the warrant records page.

Marriage, Divorce, and Chancery Court Records

Marriage and divorce records sit on opposite sides of the clerk split. Marriage licenses and marriage records are Circuit Clerk records, while divorce files are Chancery Court records kept by the Chancery Clerk. A marriage license costs $36 with both parties present and proof of identification, and no blood test or waiting period has been required since July 1, 2012. The Circuit Clerk's marriage search returns index entries, though images of marriage records are not available online. Full details live on the marriage and divorce records page and the Chancery Court probate records page.

Probate, estates, and guardianships are also Chancery Court matters, which brings up a few terms readers should know.

Testator

A person who makes a will and whose estate is later probated.

Executor

The person named in a will to administer the estate under the court's authority.

Conservator

A person appointed in Chancery Court to manage the property or finances of a protected adult.

Lincoln County Court Records Fees

Fees for Lincoln County court records vary by clerk and by the type of copy you need. The Circuit Clerk's posted fee schedule describes a paperless office where official records are kept on the website or on an in-office tablet, and there is no charge for viewing a record on the tablet in the office. The amounts below come from the Circuit Clerk fee schedule; the Chancery Clerk and the lower courts set their own fees, and a probate-specific Chancery fee schedule is not posted online.

Visit the Lincoln County Courthouse

Almost every Lincoln County record path eventually points to a small cluster of downtown Brookhaven addresses, with the Circuit Court, Circuit Clerk, Chancery Clerk, Youth Court, and District Attorney's Lincoln office at or near 301 S First Street. The official county homepage at the Lincoln County homepage is the starting point for office contacts and county background.

The Justice Court keeps a separate downtown address on S 2nd Street, and the Sheriff's Office and jail sit on Justice Street, so confirm the right building before you go.

History of Lincoln County Courts

Lincoln County was created by the Mississippi Legislature on April 7, 1870, and named for Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. It covers 586 square miles in southwest Mississippi at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 84 and Interstate 55, with Brookhaven as its county seat and largest city. The U.S. Census Bureau reported the county population as 34,907 in the 2020 Census, available at the Census QuickFacts page, with a July 2025 estimate of 34,956.

The court system carries forward Mississippi's old division between law and equity, with the Circuit Court handling felony and general civil jury work and the Chancery Court handling family, probate, and land matters. The county also saw a recent change at the records counter: in a December 2025 special election runoff, Christy Sheppard, a former Justice Court clerk, won the Circuit Clerk's office and was sworn in by 14th Judicial District Judge Michael Taylor, although some older fee and marriage forms still carry a prior clerk's name.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which clerk holds Lincoln County court records?

It depends on the case. The Circuit Clerk keeps felony and civil Circuit Court files, judgments, and marriage records in Room 205 at 301 S First Street. The Chancery Clerk keeps divorce, custody, probate, guardianship, and land records in Room 111 at the same courthouse. Justice Court records are held at 308 S 2nd Street, and city citations are kept by Brookhaven Municipal Court. Matching the case type to the correct clerk is the fastest way to find a record, since each office only indexes the cases it handles.

Is there a free online search for Lincoln County court cases?

There is no single free county portal covering every court. The Circuit Clerk's Delta landing page offers a local index but points current civil and criminal filings to Mississippi Electronic Courts. Remote MEC document viewing can require a subscription and per-page fee, while public terminals at the courthouse let you view filings without that fee. The Chancery Clerk Delta search covers deeds and land instruments, and a separate Circuit Clerk tool searches the marriage index, though marriage images are not available online.

How do I get a certified copy of a Lincoln County court record?

Contact the clerk that holds the record. The Circuit Clerk handles Circuit and marriage records and charges $0.25 per page for self-serve copies and $1.00 per page for staff-made copies, with marriage certificates at $17.00 for the first and $6.00 for each additional. The Chancery Clerk handles probate, divorce, and land copies. Requests can be made in person, by phone, by mail, by fax, or by email, and official courthouse records control over any online copy.

Why does someone appear on the jail roster before a court case shows up?

Mississippi requires an initial appearance within three days of arrest, so Justice Court judges hold sessions at the jail three times each week. All felony cases are first heard in Justice Court for that initial appearance and the filing of an affidavit before any Circuit Court indictment exists. That is why a person can show on the Sheriff's roster with charges and a bond before a Circuit Court file or MEC case becomes visible. The roster is a sheriff record, not a court case file.

Where do traffic tickets go in Lincoln County?

It depends on who issued the citation. Tickets written by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department or the Mississippi Highway Patrol go to Justice Court at 308 S 2nd Street, which also hears county DUIs and ordinance violations. Citations written by Brookhaven Police for city matters go to Brookhaven Municipal Court, which meets every Tuesday. A court traffic record is separate from a state driver record, which is purchased from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

How do I look up a divorce record?

Divorce files are Chancery Court records in Lincoln County, so start with the Chancery Clerk in Room 111 at 301 S First Street, reachable at 601-835-3411. Marriage records, by contrast, are Circuit Clerk records. There is no dedicated online divorce search form for the county, so contact the Chancery Clerk and provide the party names, the approximate year, and a cause number if you have one. Certified copies are requested from the Chancery Clerk after entry.