The list holds current inmates only. It has no search box, so you use the alphabet links. Here is the way through:

1. Go to the Sheriff's list of current inmates using any phone or computer.
2. Choose the letter that starts the last name.
3. If the list runs long, move to the next page. The whole list is about three pages.
4. Read the row. You will see the intake date and time, the city, the arresting agency and any release date.
5. Open the charge table in the row. Each charge has its own bond amount.
6. Write down what you see, then call to confirm.

The class field tells you how the person is held. Examples are pretrial detainee, county prisoner and probation violator. Fresh bookings may lag, so phone the jail when a name seems absent.

No hit on the list can have several explanations:

• Still being booked. The row may not be entered yet.
• City police have them first. The Natchez Police Department has a jail booking desk, 601-445-7535, at 233 D'Evereux Drive, Natchez, MS 39120.
• Already out. A bail agent paid, or a judge ordered release.
• Moved. They might sit in a neighboring sheriff's jail, or in a federal or ICE cell.
• Spelling. Search again under a pet name, a middle name or a former surname.

The jail staff can check by full name and birth date. Call 601-442-4199 during office hours, or the 24-hour line, 601-442-2752, at other times.

The main place is the Adams County Jail, 306 State Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-442-4199. It is also called the Adult Detention Center. The Sheriff's page puts the daily head count near 90, split between a men's wing and a women's wing. Some are waiting for court, some are county prisoners, and some are held for a probation violation.

• Natchez Police booking desk: 233 D'Evereux Drive, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-445-7535. Call to ask whether the person is being held there.
• Adams County Correctional Center: 20 Hobo Forks Road, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-304-3003. ICE lists it as a detention site for people in immigration custody. It is not where local arrests go.
• Youth: the Sheriff says juveniles are kept in a separate place. See the under-18 answer below.

For an arrest made across the county line, phone that area's Sheriff to learn where the person is held.

The Sheriff's list is text only. Beside each name are facts and charges, and there are no mugshots. The page warns that its data may be wrong, so treat it as a first look.

You can still ask for a mugshot. Mississippi's Public Records Act makes a law enforcement incident report public, and that report must name the person charged and arrested. The Act is silent on booking photos, which leaves the choice to the agency. Ask the Sheriff's Office, 306 State Street, Natchez, MS 39120, at 601-442-2752, or use its public records request form. For a city arrest, ask Natchez police at 601-445-5565. The agency may charge the actual cost of copies.

• To get an ICE mugshot, send a FOIA request through ICE's records site.
• Federal mugshots stay private. Only the U.S. Marshals Service may let one out, such as a photo used to hunt a fugitive.

Yes, there is an alert service. Mississippi's VINE service, called SAVIN, messages you about inmates in county jails and state prisons. An alert goes out when someone is transferred, freed, escapes, or comes back into custody. Should a county inmate be sent on to a state prison, your sign-up follows them.

• Look the person up and register at VINELink.
• Or call the 24-hour line, 888-967-7284, in English or Spanish.

Not every jail may feed VINE, so look at the Sheriff's list daily as well. For a sure answer about a release, call 601-442-4199.

A judge must see anyone who is arrested and held without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours. For county arrests, this usually happens at Justice Court, 114 South Wall Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-442-0199. City arrests go to Municipal Court, 233 D'Evereux Drive, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-445-7524. The judge states the accusation, covers the person's rights, and chooses how release will work.

• The starting point is a promise to appear or an appearance bond. The judge uses stricter terms only if needed.
• Bond can be a cash deposit of 10 percent or $250, whichever is more, with the clerk. Not everyone qualifies.
• Bond can be a sworn pledge of Mississippi property.
• Bond can come from a licensed bondsman. The fee is 10 percent or $100, whichever is more, plus $50. It is not refunded.

Judges often follow guides, such as $500 to $2,000 for a one-year misdemeanor. When the charge is domestic violence, the person must be seen by a judge first, and bail cannot be posted until then. The roster shows the bond set for each charge. Our bail page gives the full steps, and Mississippi bail laws lays out the state law.

Begin on the Sheriff's roll. Each row holds a charge table with the bond amount for every charge. The jail at 601-442-4199 can fill in the rest.

After a case is filed, ask the court. Misdemeanors go through Justice Court, 114 South Wall Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-442-0199. Felonies go through the Circuit Clerk, 115 South Wall Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-446-6326. Know the full legal name and the birthday before you call. You may also use Mississippi Electronic Courts, which opens docket files with one login. Some courts may not take part, so a phone call is the safer check.

A judge rules on appointed counsel by the first hearing. A person with no money should speak up and request one.

For how appointments run here, call the Justice Court clerk at 601-442-0199 or the Circuit Clerk at 601-446-6326. For a city charge, the Natchez Municipal Court at 601-445-7524 has a public defender on its staff list. Paying for your own lawyer is also allowed at any time. Most felony appeals go through Mississippi's state public defender office, based in Jackson, 601-576-4290.

Visits are non-contact. The jail administrator sets them up, and the Sheriff's page says they happen once a month. That page ties the schedule to COVID-19, so confirm before you travel. Call 601-442-4199 for dates and times.

• Leave electronic devices outside, cell phones and cameras included.
• Breaking this rule ends the visit.
• It can also remove you from the person's approved visitor list.

Our visitation guide covers the basics for any jail.

Start with the person's jacket number, the jail's own ID. Staff can give it to you. Then choose how to pay:

• The kiosk in the front lobby of the jail, 306 State Street, Natchez, MS 39120, takes cash and cards. It adds a fee per use.
• Go to SmartDeposit online, a service the Sheriff's page points families to.
• Use MoneyGram with location code 5500.
• Money orders are allowed but the jail would rather you skip them. It holds each one for 10 days first.

At release, the balance comes back on a debit card, and staff explain how to set the PIN. If the person moves to another facility, the money goes to that agency by check. Call 601-442-4199 with questions. See our money guide and commissary guide too.

All calls from inmates are collect. To add call time, contact Ally Telecom Group at 800-943-2189, the company the Sheriff names for families.

Ask the jail at 601-442-4199 if you can use tablets, texts or video calls. Also find out if calls get recorded, and save every word about the case for your own lawyer. Read our phone calls page and email and texting page add detail.

Address the envelope like this:

Adams County Sheriff's Office
[Inmate's full name]
306 State Street
Natchez, MS 39120

Your own full first and last name and complete address must be on the return corner. Mail is delivered Monday to Friday after staff check it for contraband. Do not send packages, because the jail turns them away. Call 601-442-4199 to ask whether to add the jacket number, and whether cards, photos or books can come. The mail guide adds the usual jail rules.

The jail supplies all personal items, and outside packages are refused. Money on the account is refunded at release as a debit card. To ask about clothes or other things held at booking, call 601-442-4199 from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and ask for the Jail Administrator or a deputy in that role. Ask which photo ID to bring and whether the inmate has to approve it first. Pick up at the jail, 306 State Street, Natchez, MS 39120.

A nurse practitioner works at the jail Monday to Friday and is on call all day and night. A deputy drives inmates to medical visits and other trips.

Call 601-442-4199 and tell staff the problem, the medicine, the dose and the doctor. Ask the person to file a request with the jail's medical staff too. Families may bring current medication in its original bottle, but the health care provider must approve it, and expired pills are thrown out. If it is life-threatening, dial 911 first.

Deputies at the Sheriff's Office, 306 State Street, Natchez, MS 39120, serve warrants. Call 601-442-2752 at any hour after you write down the person's full name and birthday. You can open the Sheriff's warrants page and most wanted page, or Mississippi's statewide Most Wanted. A court clerk can also check: Justice Court, 114 South Wall Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-442-0199, or the Circuit Clerk, 115 South Wall Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-446-6326. Getting a warrant cleared begins with advice from a lawyer, followed by a call to the issuing court about surrendering.

The court with the case holds the date:

• Justice Court, 114 South Wall Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-442-0199. First hearings and misdemeanors.
• Circuit Court and County Court, 115 South Wall Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-446-6326. Felony cases move to Circuit Court after an indictment by a grand jury. This area sits in the Sixth Circuit Court District.
• Natchez Municipal Court, 233 D'Evereux Drive, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-445-7524. City misdemeanors and ordinance charges.

Unless a good reason for delay exists, the court has to schedule the trial inside 270 days of the arraignment. Every step is laid out on our court help page.

Federal cases for this area are heard in the Western Division, part of Mississippi's Southern District. Court meets in the U.S. Courthouse, 109 South Pearl Street, 2nd Floor, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-897-6936. That building has no clerk's office. Filings go to the clerk in Jackson at the United States Courthouse, 501 East Court Street, Jackson, MS 39201 (Suite 2.500), 601-608-4000.

1. A detention hearing under 18 U.S.C. 3142 is where a federal judge picks release or jail until trial.
2. Before trial, the U.S. Marshals Service may move the person to a jail it uses. Call the Marshals' Southern District line, 601-608-6800, to ask where.
3. The Federal Public Defender, which gives free counsel in federal cases, is at 200 South Lamar Street, Suite 200N, Jackson, MS 39201, 601-948-4284.
4. After sentencing, use the BOP's federal inmate locator to find the prison.

Here is the usual path:

1. Step one is a detainer: ICE sends the jail an I-247A form asking it to hold them.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, so ICE can pick them up.
3. After that, ICE may move the person to a detention site. One is the Adams County Correctional Center, 20 Hobo Forks Road, Natchez, MS 39120. ICE's page gives 601-304-3003 for detainee information, 24 hours a day, and 601-304-3002 for deportation officers. Visits there are non-contact.
4. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator, entering the name and birth country, or else the A-number.

Mississippi is overseen by ICE's New Orleans field office. For legal calls and visit scheduling at the Natchez site, use 601-304-2509, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Talk to an immigration lawyer early.

Once a prison term is ordered, a deputy drives the person to a Mississippi Department of Corrections reception site for classification. The sites are in Parchman in the north, near Pearl in the center, and near Leakesville in the south. One is the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, 3794 MS Hwy 468, Pearl, MS 39208, 601-932-2880. Classification may last between 14 and 45 days, during which visits are not allowed and calls are limited.

• Look someone up in the MDOC inmate database using a name or ID number.
• See our Mississippi state prisons guide for each prison.
• The State Parole Board, apart from MDOC, makes parole calls.

Youth Court, not adult court, takes most cases of people younger than 18. Here, the County Court judge hears these cases. Call the Youth Court at the Juvenile Justice Center, 320 State Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-442-6416, to find out the child's location and hearing date. The Youth Drug Court line is 601-304-7868.

• Without a judge's order, a child cannot stay locked up past 24 hours. A detention hearing is due by hour 48.
• A child is generally kept out of adult jails.
• If a child is 13 or older, a life or death offense or a concealed deadly weapon charge can start in adult court. Any request to move the case to adult court has a 10-day clock that starts when the petition is filed.

The state's Youth Defense office offers help at 601-576-4206.

The list names the arresting agency in each row. These agencies serve the area:

• Natchez Police Department, 233 D'Evereux Drive, Natchez, MS 39120, main line 601-445-5565.
• Adams County Sheriff's Office, 306 State Street, Natchez, MS 39120, 601-442-2752, open around the clock. Deputies cover the rural land beyond city borders.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop M, 160 Highway 84 East, Brookhaven, MS 39601, 601-515-1989. It serves the county in District 9.

If a small town or a campus officer made the arrest, ask the Sheriff's line which agency it was.