Mississippi Court Information, Location and Structure

The state judiciary of Mississippi is much like those in the other states of the U.S. Each of the state's courts hear the issues brought to their notice according to their jurisdiction and pass judgment. However, there are many specialized courts in this state's court system, and each has a very specific purpose.

Here are the types of state courts in Mississippi:

•    The Supreme Court
•    The Appellate Court
•    The Chancery Courts
•    The Circuit Courts (for 22 districts)
•    The County Courts
•    The Justice Courts
•    The Municipal Courts
•    The Drug Courts
•    The Youth Courts

How Can You Contact Your Mississippi Court?

Once you know the legal system and hierarchy in the state, you will know which Mississippi court that you need to approach when you are filing your case. To get complete information about these contact details, you can visit the official legal website of the state at

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us

.

The court system in Mississippi follows an organized and hierarchical structure as mentioned above. At the topmost position is the Supreme Court, found at

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/appellate_courts/sc/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/sc.html

, and it is followed by the Appellate Courts or Court of Appeals, found at

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/appellate_courts/coa/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/coa.html

. This forms the second (and lower) tier of the appeal system in Mississippi. Information for the Justices and Court of Appeals Judges may be found here:

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/appellatedirectory/appellatedirectory.pdf

.

Next are the Circuit Courts (

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/trialcourts/circuitcourt/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/circuitcourt.html

) in Mississippi, which are the trial courts. As things stand now, there are 22 districts in the state, and you will find the Circuit Courts within them. A total of 51 Circuit Court judges have been appointed to preside over the hearings held in these courts.

If there arises any dispute regarding equities, adoptions, divorces as well as custodial rights, you need to approach the Chancery Courts in the state (

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/trialcourts/chancerycourt/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/chancerycourt.html

) because they have the necessary jurisdiction to hear cases involving these matters. The number of Chancery Courts in the state is currently 20, with 48 Chancery Court judges serving in them.

Cases dealing with monetary values up to $200,000 are heard at the County Courts in Mississippi (

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/trialcourts/countycourt/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/countycourt.html

). Presently, 29 judges are serving in the 20 County Courts in the state.

In addition to the above types of courts, the Mississippi legal system includes other courts such as the Municipal Courts, Justice Courts, Drug Courts and Youth Courts. Each of these courts is assigned a unique set of functions, but all belong to the County Courts in Mississippi.

A complete directory of all federal and state courts in Mississippi, as well as judicial officials may be found at:

http://www.sos.state.ms.us/ed_pubs/ctcalendar/2009/Judiciary%20Dir/Judiciary%20Dir%2009.pdf