Hinds County Circuit Court Overview
Circuit Court is Mississippi's court of general jurisdiction. In Hinds County it hears felony criminal prosecutions, civil suits above the limits set for the lower courts, and appeals that move up from Justice Court, Municipal Court, and County Court. A circuit case file can hold an indictment, motions, plea entries, jury verdicts, judgments, and sentencing orders. These are the records most people mean when they ask for serious court files in the county.
The court does not handle everything. Divorce, child custody, estates, guardianships, and land title disputes run through Chancery Court instead. Small claims, evictions, and many county traffic tickets start in Justice Court. City citations and ordinance cases go to Municipal Court. Because the county splits work across several court levels, a name search may pull files from more than one place, and a circuit search alone will not show a chancery or city case.
Hinds County Circuit Court Locations
Mississippi Electronic Courts lists four local circuit and county court offices, split between the Jackson district and the Raymond district. The County Court shares the same two buildings and the same clerk channels as Circuit Court, which is why both appear together below. The Chancery Court rows are added for readers who reach this page looking for probate or divorce files that the Circuit Court does not keep.
| Court / Location | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court First (Jackson) | Circuit | 407 E. Pascagoula Street, Jackson, MS 39201 | 601-968-6628 |
| Circuit Court Second (Raymond) | Circuit | 127 W. Main Street, Raymond, MS 39154 | 601-857-8038 |
| County Court First (Jackson) | County | 407 E. Pascagoula Street, Jackson, MS 39201 | 601-968-6628 |
| County Court Second (Raymond) | County | 127 W. Main Street, Raymond, MS 39154 | 601-857-8038 |
| Chancery Court (Jackson) | Chancery | 316 S. President Street, Jackson, MS 39201 | 601-968-6540 |
| Chancery Court (Raymond Annex) | Chancery | 127 W. Main St. Annex Building, Raymond, MS 39154 | 601-857-8055 |
The Jackson campus on East Pascagoula Street is the busiest counter for most records users, since the circuit, county, sheriff, and administrative offices sit close together downtown. The Raymond office is a real second courthouse, not an overflow desk, so a case assigned to the second district stays in Raymond.
Seventh Circuit District and the Two-District Split
Hinds County is the Seventh Circuit Court District in the Mississippi system. MEC treats the Seventh Circuit District as a single electronic court that covers both the circuit and county case types for the county. Within that district, the work is divided between a First District seat in Jackson and a Second District seat in Raymond. The split is a long-running feature of the county, which has kept two courthouse centers rather than routing every case through downtown Jackson.
This matters for a search because the district decides venue. A felony charged in the Jackson side is docketed at the First District, while a matter tied to the Raymond side lands at the Second District. The two offices are not interchangeable for every request. A clerk in one building may not be able to hand over a certified copy of a file housed in the other, so confirm the district before driving across the county.
Note: When you are unsure which district holds a case, call the Circuit Clerk first at 601-968-6628 rather than guessing between the Jackson and Raymond counters.
Circuit Court vs County Court vs Justice Court
The three trial levels in Hinds County handle different work, and a record lives with the court that heard the case. Circuit Court takes the most serious matters. County Court sits in the middle and also runs Youth Court for the county. Justice Court handles the smallest civil claims and the first steps of many criminal and traffic matters. The table sorts out what each one does and where to look.
| Circuit Court | County Court | Justice Court | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it handles | Felonies, major civil suits, appeals from lower courts | Defined civil and criminal matters, Youth Court, eminent domain, lower-court appeals | Small claims, eviction and removal, misdemeanor first appearances, preliminary hearings |
| Case types | Indictments, jury trials, large damage claims | Mid-level civil and misdemeanor, juvenile matters | Small civil claims, many county traffic citations |
| Where to search | MEC Seventh Circuit District, Circuit Clerk | MEC Seventh Circuit District, Circuit Clerk | Justice Court civil docket, Justice Court clerk |
County Court can be both a starting court for some cases and an appeals stop for matters that begin in Justice Court. A case can therefore travel upward through these levels, which is why a single dispute may leave a trail in more than one docket.
How a Case Moves Through the Hinds County Courts
Most cases follow a predictable path from a lower court up toward the state appellate courts. A criminal matter often starts with an arrest and a first appearance, then moves to a grand jury for a felony before it reaches Circuit Court. A civil claim may begin in Justice or County Court and climb on appeal. Either way, the final stop inside Mississippi is the appellate system, not the county.
General path: Justice Court or Municipal Court › County Court › Circuit Court › Mississippi Court of Appeals › Mississippi Supreme Court
Felony criminal flow: Arrest › First Appearance › Indictment by Grand Jury › Arraignment › Pretrial Motions › Trial › Sentencing › Appeal
Civil flow: Complaint Filed › Answer › Discovery › Pretrial › Trial › Judgment › Appeal
Not every case touches every step. A guilty plea can end a criminal case before trial, and a settlement can close a civil suit before a judge ever rules.
MEC E-Filing for Hinds County Circuit Court
Mississippi Electronic Courts, known as MEC, is the statewide e-filing and case system. The Mississippi Judiciary MEC landing page is the entry point for filing and public access. The Hinds County legacy database pages now act mostly as notices that point newer filings into MEC. For Circuit Court civil cases, the county notice states that filings and documents dated on or after September 13, 2013 may be accessed through MEC.
The rollout happened in stages. Attorneys could join MEC voluntarily on October 1, 2013, and use became mandatory for circuit cases on November 1, 2013 after a first paper pleading. County Court joined the system later. These milestones explain why an older paper file and a newer electronic file may sit in different places for the same court.
MEC go-live dates for Hinds County: Circuit Court electronic filing went live September 3, 2013. County Court went live January 1, 2016. The Fifth Chancery District for chancery cases went live January 7, 2013.
Public access to MEC runs through PAMEC, the Public Access to MEC service. The contact is Mississippi Electronic Courts, P.O. Box 117, Jackson, MS 39205, phone 601-576-4650, email helpdesk@mec.ms.gov. Document access may require an account and may carry fees set by the MEC system rather than the local clerk.
How to Search Hinds County Circuit Court Records
Circuit record searching is not one search box. The right channel depends on the case date and the court level. Newer electronic files route through MEC, while some older indexes and dockets still live on the county database site. The clerk counter remains the fallback for certified copies and files that never went online. The steps below move from the most likely channel to the backup options.
- Confirm that the case belongs in Circuit Court. Felony and major civil matters point here; divorce and probate point to Chancery Court instead.
- For filings on or after September 13, 2013, start with MEC for the Seventh Circuit District and use the court name and district to confirm venue.
- For older or non-electronic files, check the Hinds County online database index, then contact the Circuit Clerk for records not posted online.
- For certified copies or sealed-status questions, visit or call the clerk at 407 E. Pascagoula Street in Jackson or 127 W. Main Street in Raymond, depending on the district.
- For PAMEC help with public document access, call 601-576-4650 or email helpdesk@mec.ms.gov.
A circuit docket can show MEC status flags that describe where a case stands. Labels such as Arraignment Pending, Bench Warrant Issued, BOUND OVER, Capias Pending, County Court Appeal, and MDOC Warrant Issued tell a searcher what step the file has reached. The same case may also appear in the county court dockets with hearing dates and judge assignments.
Hinds County Circuit Court vs Federal Court
Jackson hosts both the state Circuit Court and a federal courthouse, and the two are easy to confuse. The Hinds County Circuit Court is a state court for felonies, state civil suits, and state appeals. Federal cases run through a separate system that the Circuit Clerk does not control. Federal criminal cases, federal civil-rights suits, constitutional claims, and diversity cases belong to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, not to the county. The state system itself starts at the Mississippi Judiciary MEC portal, which is where state circuit and chancery filings are accessed.
The MEC landing page above is the state side of the line, covering circuit, county, and chancery filings for Hinds County. Anything filed in federal court will not appear there. The federal trial court for this region keeps its own docket and its own public-access tools, separate from the state courthouse a few blocks away.
To see how the federal trial court presents itself, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi publishes its own site for the district that includes Jackson. A person booked by the Hinds County Sheriff and held in the county jail is not automatically in federal court, so the venue should always be confirmed before a search.
The federal district court shown here handles matters that never reach the Circuit Clerk's counter. Public federal records flow through PACER, the official federal access system, which requires an account and may charge per-page fees. Appeals from this federal district go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, while state circuit appeals stay inside Mississippi.
Bankruptcy is another federal track that the county court does not touch. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi handles those filings for residents of Hinds County and the surrounding district.
Because the bankruptcy court is federal, a debtor's case will not show in a Hinds County Circuit Court records search. Keeping the state and federal systems straight prevents wasted trips, since the wrong clerk simply has no file to produce.
Appeals from Hinds County Circuit Court
Circuit Court is both an appeals stop and a starting court. It can hear appeals brought up from Justice Court, Municipal Court, and County Court, and it can also be the first court for a felony or a large civil claim. When a party wants to challenge a Circuit Court decision, the case moves into the state appellate system rather than back down to a lower court.
Mississippi review runs through two appellate courts. The Mississippi Supreme Court sits at the top, and the Mississippi Court of Appeals handles many cases assigned to it. A circuit judgment that is appealed leaves the county record system and joins the appellate docket. The full case file and any sentencing detail stay searchable through the county court records and the Circuit Clerk until the appellate court takes over the active proceeding.
Note: An appeal does not erase the trial court file, so the original Circuit Court record remains the source for charges, judgments, and dates while the appeal is pending.