Find Kemper County Circuit Clerk Records

About the Kemper County Circuit Clerk

The Kemper County Circuit Clerk is an elected official who serves as clerk of the Circuit Court and the County Court. In Kemper County the office is held by Shirley Steele Jackson. Her staff manages the day to day filing, indexing, and copying of the law side of Kemper County court records. The official county page for the office describes a wide mix of court, marriage, licensing, and election duties that reach far beyond simple paperwork.

Mississippi splits its county clerk work between two offices, and that split matters in Kemper County before any records request. The Circuit Clerk keeps Circuit and County Court files, while the Kemper County Chancery Clerk keeps the equity, land, and probate side. Sending a request to the wrong office is the most common reason a Kemper County records search stalls, so it helps to confirm which clerk holds the record first.

What the Kemper County Circuit Clerk Does

The office receives and files lawsuits, indictments, motions, and related papers in the civil and criminal cases brought in the Kemper County Circuit or County Court. It issues the process that moves a case forward, draws and qualifies juries, and preserves the record once a judge rules. Several of its duties have nothing to do with litigation at all, such as marriage licenses and voter registration, which makes the Circuit Clerk one of the busiest public counters in Kemper County.

• Files civil and criminal lawsuits, indictments, motions, and pleadings
• Issues process, including summonses and subpoenas
• Draws jurors and qualifies juries for court terms
• Keeps records of judgments and executions
• Issues marriage licenses and keeps marriage records
• Records medical and professional licenses
• Registers voters and carries out election duties

Because these duties span both the courtroom and the ballot box, the Kemper County Circuit Clerk is often the first call for residents who are not sure where a public record lives. Criminal history, civil litigation, and tax lien questions are all routed to this office by Kemper County's own how-do-I guidance.

Records the Kemper County Circuit Clerk Keeps

Not every Kemper County court record sits with the Circuit Clerk, so matching the record to the office is the first step. The county directs criminal history, civil litigation, and tax lien records to the Circuit Clerk. It directs divorce, estate, land, delinquent tax, and Board of Supervisors minutes to the Chancery Clerk. Knowing the divide keeps a Kemper County records request from bouncing between two counters.

The split tracks the courts themselves. The Circuit Court is the law court for felony prosecutions, larger civil suits, and appeals from the lower courts, and its clerk is the Circuit Clerk. The Chancery Court is the equity court for divorce, custody, adoption, estates, guardianships, and land title, and its records belong to the Chancery Clerk. General court records that cross both tracks are explained on the broader Kemper County court records overview.

The Board of Supervisors, whose minutes are Chancery Clerk records, meets at the Courthouse Annex rather than the main courthouse. The county Board of Supervisors page lists that meeting location and schedule.

Seeing how the county organizes its offices makes the clerk split easier to follow, since each office holds a distinct slice of the public record. When in doubt about which counter handles a file, the Circuit Clerk's staff can confirm whether the record is theirs or the Chancery Clerk's before a visit.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy carries the clerk's seal and certification, which proves the document is a true copy of what the court filed. Banks, employers, attorneys, and other agencies often require a certified copy rather than a plain printout. The steps below move a request from start to finish through the Kemper County Circuit Clerk's office.

1. Identify the case or record. Gather the party names, the case or cause number if you have it, the filing year, and the document you need so staff can locate the file quickly.
2. Contact the Circuit Clerk. Call 601-743-8179 or write to P.O. Box 130, De Kalb, MS 39328 to confirm the file is held there and to ask the current copy and certification fees.
3. Submit the request with payment. Provide the record details in writing, state how many certified copies you want, and include the fee in the form the office accepts.
4. Pick up or receive by mail. Collect the certified copy at the courthouse counter or have it mailed back, depending on what you arrange with staff.

Note: Sealed, expunged, juvenile, and adoption materials are restricted, so ask the clerk what public docket sheet, order, or redacted copy can be released instead.

Kemper County Records Request Fields

Kemper County links an official Public Records Request Policy that governs formal requests for public records. The policy document is posted by the county, but its individual form fields were not published in a readable format during research, so several rows below are marked as not confirmed. A strong request still identifies the exact record, names the office that holds it, and gives enough detail for staff to find the file.

Kemper County Circuit Clerk Fees

Copy and certification fees were not published in the official Kemper County sources reviewed, and borrowing another county's amounts would be misleading. The items below are the charges most often tied to Kemper County Circuit Clerk records, but each amount should be verified by phone before a visit or mailing. The office can quote the current figure and the payment forms it accepts.

Mississippi's Public Records Act allows agencies to charge the actual cost of locating and reproducing records, so a large or older request can carry a higher charge than a single page. Asking for the estimate up front avoids surprises at the counter.

Access Kemper County Circuit Clerk Records

There is no separate county portal that searches every Kemper County court file. Kemper County Circuit Court records are tied to Mississippi Electronic Courts, the statewide e-filing and case system, which went live for the Kemper County Circuit Court on April 14, 2025. Full case and document views in MEC may require registration or a subscription, so the online channel is partly gated rather than a free anonymous search.

The starting points online are the Mississippi Judiciary's Mississippi Electronic Courts page and the 10th Circuit court information page, which lists the Kemper County Circuit Court at 123 Main Ave., De Kalb, with the MEC go-live date and office hours. When MEC access is unavailable or login-gated, the clerk counter remains the reliable route.

• Online through MEC for participating Circuit Court records
• In person at the courthouse, 123 Main Ave, De Kalb
• By mail to the Circuit Clerk at P.O. Box 130, De Kalb, MS 39328
• By phone at 601-743-8179 during business hours
• Through a formal public records request under county policy

The county news page is where the county posts website and access updates, including the move that centralized court, clerk, and forms links online. Checking it occasionally is a quick way to catch new phone numbers or service changes before a trip to the office.

Kemper County Marriage Licenses and Records

The Kemper County Circuit Clerk issues marriage licenses and keeps the records of marriages performed under those licenses. Kemper County did not publish a local marriage license fee, application checklist, or online form in the pages reviewed, so the current requirements should come straight from the office. Calling 601-743-8179 ahead of time confirms the fee, the identification needed, age rules, prior-divorce documentation, and accepted payment.

Older and statewide marriage records also have a vital-records channel. The Mississippi State Department of Health marriage records page handles statewide copies through its Vital Records office and an online ordering vendor. Mississippi marriage records are generally available from the state for events from January 1, 1926 to June 1, 1938 and from January 1, 1942 to the present, while a short window from July 1938 to December 1941 is available from the Circuit Court Clerk in the county where the license was issued.

Public Records Policy and Mississippi Law

Public access to Kemper County court and agency records rests on Mississippi's Public Records Act, found at Miss. Code Section 25-61-1. The act sets a policy in favor of inspecting public records unless a statute or exemption applies. The Circuit Court's own authority over the law-side cases it files comes from Miss. Code Section 9-7-81, which grants general jurisdiction over matters not assigned elsewhere.

The Mississippi Ethics Commission keeps a plain-language overview of the act, and the county posts its own request policy as the local procedure. Court sealing orders, expunctions, juvenile confidentiality, and adoption privacy still override general access, so not every file is open even when the law favors disclosure.

The Mississippi Ethics Commission Public Records Act overview summarizes how Title 25, Chapter 61 works and what an agency may charge. Reading it before filing a request helps frame the ask in terms the Circuit Clerk can act on quickly.

Note: A request that names the exact record, the holding office, and the parties or case number moves faster than a broad request for everything on a person or topic.