Contact the Pearl River County Circuit Clerk

About the Pearl River County Circuit Clerk

Nance Fitzpatrick Stokes serves as the Pearl River County Circuit Clerk. The Circuit Clerk is an elected county officer in Mississippi. The office keeps the official record of every case filed in Circuit Court, which is the county's main trial court for felony crimes and larger civil suits. It also handles work that has nothing to do with courtrooms, such as voter rolls and passport intake.

The clerk runs two public offices. The Poplarville counter sits inside the Pearl River County Courthouse downtown. The Picayune counter serves residents in the southern part of the county. Both keep the same weekday hours, though the Picayune office closes over the lunch hour. Mail goes to a single post office box in Poplarville.

Circuit Clerk and Chancery Clerk Split

Pearl River County does not use a single all-purpose clerk. It splits the work between two elected clerks, and the line between them decides where a record lives. The Circuit Clerk keeps Circuit Court files. The Chancery Clerk keeps a different and equally large set of records. Sending a request to the wrong clerk is the most common reason a search stalls.

The Circuit Clerk holds felony and civil Circuit Court cases, appeals that came up from Justice or Municipal Court, jury matters, and the county's voter and election records. This office also processes passports and marriage-license services. The Chancery Clerk handles equity matters instead. That means divorce, child custody, probate of estates, guardianships, conservatorships, land and deed records, and the county board minutes.

Because the county does not run a separate Chancery Clerk page, the Chancery-held records show up on other parts of the site. Estate and guardianship files are covered with the Pearl River County probate records, and divorce decrees sit with the county marriage and divorce records. The Chancery Clerk office is in Picayune at 917 Goodyear Boulevard, reachable at 601-749-7734, and its public page is pearlrivercounty.net/187/Chancery-Clerk.

What the Pearl River County Circuit Clerk Does

The clerk's core job is keeping Circuit Court records complete and in order. Staff accept new filings, log every document into the case file, issue process such as summonses and subpoenas, collect court fees, and certify copies when the public asks. The office serves as the fallback counter for older Circuit Court files that never made it into an online system.

Several duties reach beyond the courtroom. Mississippi assigns the Circuit Clerk a role in elections, so this office touches voter registration and the management of jury pools drawn for court terms. The list below covers the main services Pearl River County residents use most.

• Maintaining felony and civil Circuit Court case files
• Issuing and certifying copies of court documents
• Managing jury summonses and jury service
• Handling voter and election-related functions
• Processing passport applications and marriage-license services

Each service has its own counter routine. A passport application means a federal form and an in-person oath. A certified court copy means a record search and a certification stamp. Calling ahead confirms which office handles a task and what payment the staff will accept that day.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy carries the clerk's seal and proves a court document is genuine. Courts, lenders, and government agencies often require one. A plain printout pulled from an online portal will not satisfy those uses. The steps below walk through a certified-copy request to the Circuit Clerk.

1. Identify the case. Have the case number ready, or the full party names and the year the case was filed, so staff can locate the right file.
2. Choose a channel. Visit a counter in person, mail a written request to P.O. Box 530, Poplarville, MS 39470, or call to confirm what the office will accept.
3. Name the document and copy type. State exactly which order, judgment, or filing you need, how many copies, and that you want them certified rather than plain.
4. Pay the fee. Ask the office for the current copy and certification charge and the accepted payment method before submitting.
5. Collect the copy. Pick it up at the counter or include a self-addressed return for mail delivery.

Restricted files follow a stricter path. Sealed, expunged, youth-court, and adoption records are not released over the counter. The clerk may confirm a rule but can require proof of identity, party or attorney status, or a court order before handing over anything.

Pearl River County Circuit Clerk Request Fields

No single countywide court-record request form was published by the county. In practice the clerk works from the details a requester supplies in a letter, email, or counter conversation. Giving complete information up front cuts the back-and-forth and speeds the search. The table lists the fields worth including in any records request.

Note: identification matters most for restricted records such as expunctions, adoption, youth-court files, and certified copies tied to a protected person or minor.

Pearl River County Circuit Clerk Fees

Mississippi clerks may charge reasonable costs for copies, certification, and searches. The county did not publish a single posted Circuit Clerk copy-fee sheet in the pages reviewed, so the safest move is to confirm the exact amount before paying. Several charges connected to online access carry vendor or system fees that change with the service used.

Chancery-held records carry their own posted rates. Land-record copies made by a member of the public run $0.25 per page and staff-made copies run $0.50 per page, and the Chancery online copy service adds 3.5 percent with a $2.00 minimum. Those rates belong to the Chancery Clerk, not the Circuit Clerk.

Pearl River County Circuit Court Records Online

The county states that Mississippi Electronic Courts, known as MEC, is implemented for civil and criminal cases in the Pearl River County Circuit and County Courts. MEC is the statewide e-filing and case-management system. Attorneys file through it, and some case information may be viewable online for participating courts. Public access is not unlimited, and registration or a subscription can be required to open documents.

The county Circuit Clerk page is the official starting point for office services and contact details. A first look at how the office presents its work helps a visitor arrive prepared. The official Pearl River County Circuit Clerk page lists responsibilities and the Poplarville and Picayune contact points.

The page groups the felony, civil, jury, voter, passport, and marriage duties in one place, which mirrors how the counter is actually run. Two more online tools round out access. The Mississippi Electronic Courts system handles e-filed case material, with a help desk at 601-576-4650. Court payments route through the county's nCourt online payment portal, which is a payment channel and not a full record search. None of these tools replace the clerk for certification. A certified copy still has to come from the office.

Public Records Act Requests

Mississippi law leans toward open access for government records. The state's policy section, Mississippi Code Section 25-61-1, declares that public records should be available unless another law says otherwise. The definition of a public record is broad under Section 25-61-5, which supports requests for county administrative material held by the clerk.

The procedure for inspection and copying sits in Section 25-61-7. It lets an agency set a written process, respond within a set time, and charge the reasonable cost of producing a record. Court case files often move under court rules and clerk procedure rather than a generic public-records form, so the practical step is still to ask the clerk that holds the file.

The Mississippi Ethics Commission explains the Public Records Act for residents who want the broader framework. Its public-records guidance covers how to phrase a request and what exemptions apply. Open access does not mean every document is free, online, or unrestricted, and confidentiality rules still cover sealed, juvenile, adoption, and expunged matters.

Visiting the Pearl River County Circuit Clerk

Picking the right office before leaving home matters in a county with two counters. The Poplarville office sits in the county seat at the courthouse on South Main Street and keeps a straight 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekday schedule. The Picayune office on Goodyear Boulevard serves the south end and closes from noon to 1 p.m., so a midday visit there can find the doors locked.

A short call ahead settles the basics. Staff can confirm which counter handles a passport, a marriage license, or a certified court copy, and what payment they take that day. Bringing a government photo ID, the case number, and the exact document name turns a long search into a quick one. Mail requests should go to the Poplarville post office box rather than a street address.