1. Open the inmate search using whatever device you have.
2. Type just the family name to begin. If the list is huge, add a first name.
3. Still empty? Test a nickname, a middle name or an alternate spelling.
4. Copy down whatever shows, including the booking date.
5. Then dial 662-224-8941 and ask a jailer to confirm what you found.

Screens lag behind real life. Treat the jail desk as the final word.

Nothing on screen does not prove the person left. Common reasons include:

• Paperwork still in progress. Fingerprints and photos take time.
• A town officer has them. A police department can hold someone at its own station before the ride to the jail.
• A bond was posted. A relative, a bondsman or a judge may already have freed them.
• Another county. An arrest across the line puts the person in that jail.
• A federal, immigration or youth case. These follow separate rules, explained further down.

Ring the jail at 662-224-8941 and ask which agency brought the person in. The courthouse switchboard, 662-224-6300, may know the number for a town police office.

Start at the county jail in Ashland, MS 38603, 662-224-8941. It books adults picked up by the Sheriff's Office. Before you drive over, get the street address from the desk.

A person grabbed in another county sits in that county's lockup. The district attorney for this area also covers the counties below. The research did not show that Benton arrests are held in these jails, so treat them as places to ask. Open each page for its contact details:

• Tippah County Detention Center
• Union County jail
• Marshall County Correctional Facility
• Lafayette County Detention Center
• Calhoun County jail

Ask the Ashland desk, too, whether the person was moved to a regional lockup or sits under a federal or state hold.

The search might show mugshots, or it might not. Look at a result and see. When no picture appears, the arresting agency decides whether to hand one over. For a deputy's arrest, ask the Sheriff's Office at 662-224-8941. After a town arrest, ask that town's police.

Mississippi's Public Records Act treats an incident report from police as a public record. The report must carry the name of anyone arrested and charged, plus when and where it happened. Nothing in the Act talks about booking photos. Agencies may charge a fee, and a written request leaves a paper trail.

• Photos in ICE files can be requested through the ICE records page.
• Photos from federal arrests usually stay private. The U.S. Marshals Service may share one in rare cases, such as a manhunt.

Yes, through SAVIN, the state's victim notice program built on VINE. Once you sign up, it sends you notices when a county or state offender is moved, freed, runs off or is brought back. Your sign-up stays active if the person is later sent to state prison.

• Register at VINELink.
• Or ring the toll-free line, 888-967-7284, at any time of day. Staff speak English and Spanish.

The state publishes no list of participating county jails, so keep asking the jail desk as well.

Anyone kept in custody after an arrest has to appear before a judge inside 48 hours. A Justice Court judge usually handles a county arrest. At that hearing the judge names the charge, notes the right to counsel and chooses release terms.

State rules favor letting the person go on a written pledge to appear, or on a bond that requires no money at release. A judge asks for more only when that will not ensure a return or when safety is at stake. Ways to post a bond:

• A cash deposit with the clerk: 10 percent of the bond or $250, whichever is higher, for those who qualify.
• A property bond, backed by a sworn statement about land in Mississippi.
• A licensed bondsman, whose price is 10 percent of the bond, never under $100, with $50 more added for paperwork. That money is not returned.

Check a bondsman's license with the Mississippi Insurance Department, 601-359-3582. For more, see our bail guide and JE's Mississippi bail laws page. If the arrest involves domestic violence, bail waits until a judge has met the person.

Try the jail desk first at 662-224-8941. They can give you the charge, a bond amount and the hearing date. The judge also announces the charge at the first hearing.

A felony file sits with the Circuit Clerk in the courthouse at 190 Ripley Avenue, Ashland, MS 38603, 662-224-6310. Bring a full name and birth date. Some courts share dockets through Mississippi Electronic Courts, one login for all of them. Not every case shows there, so the clerk is the backup.

Whether a lawyer is assigned and paid for by the county gets decided no later than the first hearing. Say plainly that money is short. Those who qualify are given counsel at no cost. The Circuit Clerk, 662-224-6310, can say who takes these cases. That office is in the courthouse at 190 Ripley Avenue, Ashland, MS 38603.

Most felony appeals and death penalty work are handled by the public defender's state office, which sits in Jackson, 601-576-4290. You may also pay for a lawyer of your own choosing.

The jail sets its own visiting schedule, so call 662-224-8941 before you leave home. Questions to ask:

• On which days and between what hours may people come?
• Does a time slot have to be reserved first?
• Which photo ID is accepted, and is there a minimum age?
• What dress rules apply?
• Is a video visit possible?

Rules shift, and a visit can be called off. Our visiting guide explains what most jails expect.

Money on an inmate account buys snacks, hygiene items and often phone time. Ask the jail, 662-224-8941, which ways to send money are open and what limits apply. Use the person's full name.

Both our money guide and commissary guide describe common ways to pay. Cash should never travel in an envelope, and a caller who asks for gift cards is a scammer.

Phone the jail at 662-224-8941 and ask how your loved one is able to contact you. Ask about cost, who sets up the account, and whether texts, email or tablets exist. Assume staff can listen to or record calls, so leave case details for a lawyer visit.

More detail sits in our phone guide and email guide.

Ask the jail, 662-224-8941, for the exact mailing address and if the envelope needs an inmate number. Also ask about photos, books and anything else you plan to send.

Write the full legal name, add your return address and use plain paper. Our mail guide lists common limits. Cash and stickers are often sent back.

The jail stores personal items from booking. Call 662-224-8941 and ask how to collect them, when the desk is open and which ID to bring. Ask if the person must approve the pickup in writing. Dropping off items for someone still inside needs the jail's approval first.

Phone the jail at 662-224-8941 at once. Tell staff which drug, how much and who prescribed it. Mention a long-term illness or any worry about self-harm. Also have the person turn in a sick-call or medical request while inside. If life is at risk, call 911.

The Sheriff's Office deputies carry out warrants, so call 662-224-8941 and ask. The state has no public warrant search, but Mississippi's Most Wanted lists high-priority cases. For a felony, ask the Circuit Clerk, 190 Ripley Avenue, Ashland, MS 38603, 662-224-6310. Give a full name and birth date, and ask whether any warrant is active. Write down the answer and the date you called. If one is real, get legal advice first, then reach out to the issuing court about surrendering.

Each court controls the dates for its own cases:

• Circuit Court is the felony court; a case reaches it after a grand jury indicts. The clerk sits at 190 Ripley Avenue, Ashland, MS 38603, 662-224-6310, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Justice Court takes misdemeanors outside town limits and opens felony cases. Phone its clerk at 662-224-6320 and ask where the hearing meets.
• Municipal Court takes town cases. Ask the town police which court has yours.

Trial is meant to begin 270 days after arraignment at most, though a good reason can delay it. Our court page explains each stage in order.

Benton County falls under the Northern District of Mississippi, Oxford Division, whose courthouse is at 911 Jackson Avenue East, Oxford, MS 38655, 662-234-1971.

1. At a detention hearing, a federal judge sorts out who goes free and who stays locked up until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service, Suite 234 in that same building, 662-513-2300, can say where a federal detainee is held.
3. Court papers appear on PACER.
4. After a sentence, look on the Bureau of Prisons locator.

1. ICE may ask the jail to keep someone by filing a detainer on Form I-247A.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. ICE's New Orleans field office is in charge for Mississippi.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Search with a name and the person's home country, or with an A-number.

Paying a bond may not cancel a detainer. A lawyer can explain the effect on one case.

When the sentence is prison, the Department of Corrections classifies each new inmate at one of three intake sites, matched to the county of origin: Parchman in the north, a central facility near Pearl, or a southern one near Leakesville. Classification can run from 14 days up to 45. Families cannot visit during that time, and calls are restricted. County deputies transport the person.

• The MDOC inmate search covers state prisoners only, not county detainees.
• See JE's Mississippi prisons page.

Release on parole is up to the Mississippi State Parole Board.

Anyone under 18 usually goes to Youth Court. A judge's order is needed to keep a child past 24 hours, and the detention hearing must happen inside two days. A request to try the child as an adult has to be filed within ten days after the petition.

Ask where a young person is being kept by calling the Circuit Clerk, 662-224-6310, 190 Ripley Avenue, Ashland, MS 38603. The state's youth defense office, 601-576-4206, helps parents find counsel.

The jail or an incident report names the arresting agency. These offices work here:

• Sheriff's Office, Ashland, MS 38603, 662-224-8941. Deputies cover the county outside any town police area.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop F, 1103 Bratton Road, New Albany, MS 38652, 662-486-1995. This troop serves the county.
• Town police. The county switchboard, 190 Ripley Avenue, Ashland, MS 38603, 662-224-6300, can point you to the right town office.