Here is the process:

1. Pull up the Sheriff's jail list in a browser.
2. Scan for the surname. Your browser's find tool speeds this up on a long list.
3. If a name is a link, tap it. The detail page is where the Sheriff says photos are reached.
4. Check the release date column. A date means the person has already left.
5. Write down what you see, and call the jail to confirm anything that matters.

Being on the list proves custody. To learn the charge, the bond or how release works, ring the jail office at 662-412-3149. The Sheriff's site is our source, and some of it looks dated, so a call is the safest way to be sure.

A few simple things can explain it:

• Still in booking. A brand new arrest can take several hours to show up.
• City police. A town department could have the person first, before a transfer to the jail.
• Already out. A bondsman or a judge may have released them.
• Another jail. The arrest may have happened in a different county.
• Spelling. Test other versions of the name, like a maiden name or a short form.

Dial the Sheriff's Office at 662-412-5000, which picks up day and night. Ask if the person sits in the Pittsboro jail or was driven elsewhere.

The research shows one adult jail for the county: the Calhoun County Jail, 178 S. Murphree Street, Pittsboro, MS 38951, 662-412-3149. It also serves as the Sheriff's Office address. The pages we have do not name a second building, a work center, a women's unit or a city lockup. Ask the jail office if the person might be held in a special unit.

When the arrest took place in a different county, the Sheriff there holds the person. Call that Sheriff, or look up the jail on our Mississippi jail pages. Some Mississippi counties send people to a regional jail or a neighbor's jail. Only calling the Sheriff's Office at 662-412-5000 will tell you for sure.

It may. The Sheriff's page says photos are reached through the linked detail page for each person. We could not view the rows ourselves, so open the jail list and tap a name to see. Not every person has a mugshot there.

If you see none, ask the Sheriff's Office at 662-412-5000 whether it will release one. Mississippi's Public Records Act lets anyone read a police incident report, and that report names who was arrested and charged. The Act's text never mentions mugshots, so each agency makes its own call.

• Want an ICE photo? Submit a records request to ICE.
• Federal booking photos generally stay unreleased. The one exception is the U.S. Marshals Service, which may share a picture of a wanted person.

You can sign up for VINE. In Mississippi it is called SAVIN and the state prison agency runs it. These alerts cover "county and state offenders" and go out when someone is moved, freed, back in custody or on the run. Should the person move to a state prison, you keep getting alerts.

• Register through the VINELink website.
• You can also dial 888-967-7284 at any hour. The phone line answers in both English and Spanish.

Which county jails take part is not stated by the state. Keep checking the jail list too, and call 662-412-3149 for a sure answer.

Rule 5.1 says a person who remains held needs a prompt appearance before a judge, within 48 hours of being arrested at the very latest. Arrests by deputies usually go to Justice Court, and city police cases go to that city's Municipal Court. The judge then reads the charge, explains counsel and silence rights, and picks release terms.

The first option for a judge is often to let the person leave on a signed pledge to return, or against a signed bond. A judge can add rules, like no contact with someone, a curfew, travel limits or testing. Ways to pay include a cash deposit with the clerk, a property bond, or a licensed bail agent. A bail agent charges 10 percent of the bail amount or $100, whichever is higher, plus a $50 processing charge, and none of it comes back. Agents get licensed through the state Insurance Department, which answers at 601-359-3582.

The Sheriff's page does not say where bond is paid, so ring the jail office at 662-412-3149 first. Our bail page walks through each step, and Mississippi bail laws lists the state rules.

Begin with the jail office at 662-412-3149. Say the full name and the birth date, and ask the staff to tell you the charge.

After the first hearing, ask the clerk. For a misdemeanor, call the Justice Court clerk at 662-412-3134. If the case is a felony, phone the Circuit Clerk at 662-412-3101. The Circuit Court is at 103 West Main Street, Pittsboro, MS 38951.

Many Mississippi courts also put cases on Mississippi Electronic Courts. Not every court is on it, so the clerk is the sure answer. The District Attorney's office for this area is at 1301 Monroe Avenue, Oxford, MS 38655, 662-234-3304.

Free counsel is decided by the judge at the first hearing, so speak up there if money is tight. That choice is made by the first appearance at the latest.

Our sources name no county public defender. The Circuit Clerk, 662-412-3101, can say who takes appointments. Families may hire a private attorney at their own cost. For most felony appeals, the public defenders' state office in Jackson takes the calls, 601-576-4290.

The Sheriff's page lists in-person visits on Tuesdays from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., in 30-minute turns. That notice is dated 2018, so call 662-412-3149 before you drive out. The jail is at 178 S. Murphree Street, Pittsboro, MS 38951.

• Ask if you need to sign up, what ID to bring and who may visit.
• Ask how many visitors fit in one turn and what dress rules apply.
• Expect the jail to change or cancel a visit at any time.

Our visiting guide adds general advice.

The jail's page sends families to an online commissary, Tiger Commissary, for items the person may buy. It says all other items must come from the commissary. The page does not describe a cash drop-off, so ask the jail office at 662-412-3149 how to add money and whether there are limits.

Keep cash out of the mail. For general help, use the deposit tips and the commissary tips.

The Sheriff's page points families to City Telecoin for inmate phone minutes. Call City Telecoin at 800-682-0707 or use its website, citytelecoin.com. Learn the rates and how to load an account.

The page does not mention texts, email or video, so ask the jail office at 662-412-3149 if they exist. Expect every call to be recorded. Talk about the case with the lawyer, and nobody else. Two more pages may help: a guide to jail phones and a page on inmate email and texts.

Use this street address: Calhoun County Jail, 178 S. Murphree Street, Pittsboro, MS 38951. Start with the person's full legal name. The Sheriff's page gives no rule for the inmate number, so ask the jail office at 662-412-3149 whether to add it.

Also ask which items pass inspection, like photos, cards or books. Add your return address to the envelope and keep cash out. Our mail guide explains common rules.

Call the jail office at 662-412-3149 to ask about belongings taken at booking and how they are returned at release. The office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., per the Sheriff's contact page.

For items you bring in, the Sheriff's page says to deliver them between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The allowed clothing is short: three pairs of white socks, three pairs of white underwear and three white T-shirts, never sleeveless or muscle shirts. The page warns that anything else is refused. Check by phone first, because lists can change.

Call the jail office at 662-412-3149 right away. Share the person's name, what is wrong, which pills they take and how much, and who their doctor is.

Have the person file a request for care inside the jail as well. For a true emergency, dial 911. Worried about their state of mind? Say so in plain words. Staff must hear it to act on it.

The Sheriff's deputies carry out arrest orders in the county. Call 662-412-5000 to ask, or open the Sheriff's Most Wanted Fugitives page. A statewide list is Mississippi's Most Wanted, run by Public Safety. You can also ask the court clerk: the Justice Court at 662-412-3134, P.O. Box 7, Pittsboro, MS 38951, or the Circuit Clerk at 662-412-3101, 103 West Main Street, Pittsboro, MS 38951. If a warrant names you or a loved one, speak with a lawyer, then phone the issuing court to plan a surrender.

Call the court that is handling the case.

• Justice Court, misdemeanors and first hearings: clerk, P.O. Box 7, Pittsboro, MS 38951, 662-412-3134. The street address is best asked by phone.
• Circuit Court, felonies after a grand jury: 103 West Main Street, Pittsboro, MS 38951, clerk 662-412-3101. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Municipal Court: for an arrest by city police, ask the arresting department.

Write down the full name, the charge and the case number. Mississippi's speedy trial rule sets 270 days from arraignment, though a court may extend it for good cause. Our court guide shows how a case moves.

A federal charge is heard in the Northern District of Mississippi, Oxford Division, at the Federal Building, 911 Jackson Avenue East, Oxford, MS 38655, 662-234-1971.

1. Before trial, release or custody is decided in a federal detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals office is at 911 Jackson Avenue, Suite 234, Oxford, MS 38655, 662-513-2300. Ask where the person is being kept.
3. After sentencing, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

A hold request from ICE arrives as a detainer on Form I-247A. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. ICE takes it from there.

• Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator by name along with birth country, or or, if you know it, an A-number.
• Mississippi is handled by the ICE office in New Orleans. Our pages do not list a phone for it, so ask a lawyer to contact ICE.

To learn if the jail has a detainer, call 662-412-3149.

If the sentence is prison, deputies take the person to the Department of Corrections. Newcomers spend between two weeks and 45 days at one of three sorting prisons, and no visitors may come during that time. Calls are limited.

• The MDOC inmate search takes either a name or an ID number. It covers state prisoners only, not county jail detainees.
• Read our Mississippi state prisons page for visits and mail.
• Only the Mississippi State Parole Board can grant parole.

Youth Court usually takes cases of minors. Six hours is the longest an accused child may sit in an adult jail, except when the case is sent to adult court. A judge has to order a stay past 24 hours, and a detention hearing must happen inside 48.

The research did not find a detention center for the county, so phone the Chancery Clerk, 662-412-3117, P.O. Box 8, Pittsboro, MS 38951, or the Circuit Clerk, 662-412-3101, and ask who runs Youth Court. For a youth defender, try the state office on 601-576-4206.

The list may not name the arresting agency, so ask the jail. These agencies cover the area:

• Sheriff's Office, 178 South Murphree Street, Pittsboro, MS 38951, 662-412-5000, open all hours. It patrols the unincorporated parts.
• City police, including Calhoun City: our research found no verified number. Ask the Sheriff's line above to point you to the right department.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop G, 1280 East Lee Blvd., Starkville, MS 39759, 662-498-1054. It serves the county's highways.