Greene County Circuit Court Records

Greene County Circuit Court Overview

Circuit Court is the primary trial court in Greene County for serious cases. It hears felony criminal cases, civil actions not assigned to another court, misdemeanors that arrive on appeal, and appeals that move up from Justice Court. The Circuit Clerk describes the court as the venue that tries felonies, weighs certain civil suits, and reviews lower-court appeals. When a circuit ruling is challenged, the appeal goes to the Mississippi Supreme Court and the Mississippi Court of Appeals, the two courts at the top of the state judiciary.

The numbered label for the local circuit can confuse a reader. Greene County's own Circuit Court page calls the court the 9th Circuit District Court, while District Attorney material points to the 19th Judicial District covering Jackson, George, and Greene Counties. Rather than lean on a numbered district, it is safer to call it the Greene County Circuit Court and to name the local judges. The court sits in Leakesville, the county seat, and shares the Greene County Courthouse with the Chancery Court.

Greene County has been rooted in history since 1811, and Leakesville has long served as its courthouse city.

Greene County Courts and Court Clerks

Mississippi splits trial work among several courts, so no single county district court holds every Greene County record. The table below lists the courts and clerks most useful to a records search, with the address, phone, presiding officials, and the records each office keeps. Use it to confirm which office to contact before a call or a written request.

The Circuit Clerk is the office to call for felony, circuit civil, and judgment records. The Chancery Clerk holds divorce, probate, and land files. Justice Court keeps traffic and early criminal records, and Youth Court files stay closed to the public.

Circuit Court vs Justice Court vs Chancery Court

The three local trial courts handle different kinds of cases, and a search that lands in the wrong court wastes time. Circuit Court is the felony and major civil court. Justice Court is the lower court for traffic, small claims, and the first step of a felony case. Chancery Court is the equity court for family, estate, and land matters. The comparison below sorts out which court does what and where an appeal goes next.

A felony charge filed in Justice Court for an initial appearance does not stay there. Once a grand jury indicts, the case becomes a Circuit Court file. A divorce or estate never touches Circuit Court at all, because those belong to Chancery Court.

How a Case Moves Through the Greene County System

A felony case in Greene County travels through more than one court before it ends. It begins with an arrest and a first stop in Justice Court, moves to the grand jury, opens as a Circuit Court file after indictment, and may end with an appeal to the state appellate courts. Reading the flow makes a docket easier to follow, because each court adds its own records along the way.

Criminal flow: Arrest / Booking › Justice Court Initial Appearance › Grand Jury Indictment › Circuit Court Arraignment › Pretrial / Motions › Plea or Trial › Sentencing › Mississippi Court of Appeals / Supreme Court

Justice Court judges hold sessions at the jail three times each week so that an arrestee receives an initial appearance within three days of arrest. A felony arrestee has no Circuit Court file until the grand jury returns an indictment. Grand-jury dockets themselves are never open to the public.

Civil flow: Complaint Filed › Summons Served › Answer › Discovery › Motions › Trial › Judgment › Appeal

Note: A civil defendant served with a Greene County summons has 30 days to file an answer, and missing that deadline can lead to a default judgment with added fees and costs.

Greene County Circuit Court Terms and Judges

Greene County Circuit Court runs on a quarterly term schedule. Terms are held in February, May, August, and November, and each judge presides over one week during a term. Out-of-term court dates fall intermittently in March, June, September, and December. This rhythm explains why a case file may show long gaps with little activity between terms.

Three judges serve the local Circuit Court. The county Circuit Court page names them as the judges who hear Greene County matters.

• Hon. Keith Miller
• Hon. Kathy King Jackson, Senior Judge
• Hon. Calvin Taylor

Juries carry real weight in Circuit Court. The Circuit Clerk explains that a unanimous vote of 12 is required for a criminal conviction, while 9 of 12 jurors may decide a civil case. Jurors who receive a summons must call 601-394-6331 after 5:30 p.m. on the Friday before the summons date for reporting instructions.

Searching Greene County Circuit Court Records

Circuit Court records are the strongest online path in Greene County. The Circuit Clerk states that Greene County Circuit Court takes part in Mississippi Electronic Courts. All criminal and civil cases from 2008 to current, and judgment enrollments from 2005 to current, are available online by visiting the Mississippi Electronic Courts portal and choosing Greene Circuit from the court list. A document that is not online can still be requested from the clerk.

Viewing case information through the system uses a Public Access login, known as PAMEC. The account carries a charge of $0.20 per page of results, billed quarterly, and a no-match search still bills one page. Filers use a separate MEC login, while members of the public who only need to read a docket use the public account. The login page warns that access is logged and limited to lawful court business.

1. Confirm the record is a Circuit Court matter, such as a felony, a circuit civil suit, an appeal from Justice Court, or a judgment roll.
2. Open the state portal and select Greene Circuit from the court list, as the local Circuit Clerk directs.
3. Sign in with a public access account to read docket information, or a filer account only if filing.
4. Search by party name or case, then run a docket report to see the judge, status, and next court date.
5. Contact the Circuit Clerk at 601-394-2379 if a document is restricted, missing, or older than the online coverage.

When a record is not online, the written fallback is a public-records request to the Circuit Clerk. The office answers or refers a request within seven days of receipt and may charge $1.00 per page, $10 per hour for clerical help, and $40 per hour for technical work. The clerk's role and request channels are covered in more depth on the Greene County Circuit Clerk page, and the full set of access routes appears on the Greene County court records page.

Justice Court, Youth Court, and Other Lower Courts

Below Circuit Court sit the local courts that handle everyday and early-stage matters. Justice Court, at 416 Main Street, hears traffic tickets from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Greene County Sheriff's Department, plus DUIs, county ordinance violations, small civil claims, and felony initial appearances. The court has no online citation payment option, so payments are made by phone with a credit or debit card at 601-394-2347. Municipal Court handles city-issued matters, and callers should confirm venue with the issuing town when a citation comes from a city officer.

Youth Court handles juvenile and child-welfare matters and keeps confidential records that are not ordinary public files. Details on the local juvenile court appear on the Greene County Youth Court page.

The Youth Court page lists juvenile case categories, the youth court judge, and the county prosecutor, but the records behind those cases stay closed because Mississippi law makes youth court files confidential.

Note: Youth Court records are sealed by statute and should not be treated as searchable public court records like a Circuit Court docket.

Federal Court for Greene County Cases

Some Greene County cases never reach Circuit Court because they belong in federal court. Greene County sits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, and its divisional home is the Gulfport division. Federal criminal cases, federal firearm and drug cases, civil rights actions, and diversity civil suits are filed there rather than with the Circuit Clerk. The Gulfport courthouse is the Dan M. Russell, Jr. United States Courthouse at 2012 15th Street, Suite 403, Gulfport, MS 39501, phone 228-563-1700.

Federal case records live in the national PACER system, not in the state electronic courts. The court-specific lookup for this district is on the PACER CM/ECF court lookup page.

That lookup points to the Southern District of Mississippi system where federal dockets for Greene County matters are stored. To search across all federal courts at once, the PACER case locator is the national index.

The case locator finds a federal case by party name even when the filer does not know which district holds it. Federal access is not free, and the cost details are spelled out on the PACER fee information page.

PACER charges about $0.10 per page, caps single documents and case reports at $3, and waives fees when a quarter's charges stay at $30 or less. Federal custody after conviction may move to the Bureau of Prisons rather than the county jail or the state system.

Custody Status and Victim Notification

A Circuit Court case often raises a custody question, and Greene County does not publish an online jail roster. For current county custody, booking, or bond status, the direct channel is the Greene County Sheriff's Office at 601-394-2342 or 601-394-2341. For someone sentenced to state prison, the Mississippi Department of Corrections inmate search is the right tool, since MDOC covers state custody rather than a fresh county booking.

Victims and the public can also set up automatic alerts. The state runs a notification service explained on the MDOC SAVIN/VINE notifications page.

That page explains how to register for custody status and court-event alerts and lists the toll-free notification lines. The alerts themselves are managed through the Mississippi VINE portal.

The VINE portal lets a registered user search by name and sign up for phone, text, or email updates when a custody status changes. These state systems fill the gap left by the absence of a county-hosted roster.

Note: A person recently arrested in Greene County may not appear in the state inmate search, because that database tracks state custody rather than pretrial county bookings.

Greene County Courthouse Contact Information

The Greene County Courthouse at 400 Main Street in Leakesville is the address for Circuit Court filings, Circuit Clerk records, and Chancery matters unless an office sends a visitor elsewhere. Justice Court and Youth Court are listed nearby at 416 Main Street. The county sources do not publish a parking map, transit route, or security policy, so callers should confirm office details before a time-sensitive hearing. Circuit Clerk hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except legal holidays.

Equity, probate, and family files belong to the separate Chancery Court system, which is covered on the Greene County Chancery Court records page. For circuit dockets and hearing schedules, the Greene County court dockets page tracks how active cases are listed.