Clay County Jail

The Sheriff's website carries an inmate roster. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the roster using any device with internet.
2. Put in the surname first. If dozens of people show, include the first name as well.
3. Open the entry that matches and read every line.
4. Copy down any booking or inmate number. Jailers locate people faster with it.
5. Look again later the same day, since lists may lag behind new bookings.

The roster is only a start. For the charge, the bond and a release date, call 662-494-2896 and ask a jailer to read the record.

An empty result has several ordinary causes:

• Booking is not done. Fingerprints and paperwork take hours.
• City officers hold them. A person can sit at the police station before moving to the jail.
• They bonded out. A bond posting or a judge's release order could have ended the stay.
• Another jail has them. Mississippi counties sometimes house people in a neighbor's jail or a regional facility.
• The spelling differs. Also try nicknames, a middle name, or the name before marriage.

Call the jail at 662-494-2896. If West Point police made the arrest, ring them too. Their number is in the last answer.

Your person is probably in the jail at West Point. The Sheriff's Office runs that jail, and its office sits at 330 West Broad Street, West Point, MS 39773. Phone 662-494-2896 to learn which door staff use for visitors.

No second adult building, work center or city lockup has been confirmed here. Ask the Sheriff's Office whether your person sits in the main jail, a work program or a bed in a different county.

Someone arrested over the line is held by that sheriff. A neighbor to the northwest, for instance, uses the Chickasaw County Regional Correctional Facility, 120 Lancaster Circle, Houston, MS 38851, 662-456-3319. For other nearby counties, call that sheriff's office.

The roster may or may not display mugshots or booking photos. Open the roster and look at your person's entry to see.

When there is no photo, ask the officers' own agency. For deputies, call the Sheriff's Office at 662-494-2896. For city officers, call West Point police at 662-494-1244. Each agency chooses whether to hand one over.

Title 25, Chapter 61 of the Mississippi Code is the state public records law. It keeps police incident reports open, and those name everyone arrested and charged. Agencies may bill the cost of copies. Nothing in it orders agencies to release mugshots.

• ICE photos: file a public records request at ice.gov/foia.
• Federal booking photos are generally not released. Only the U.S. Marshals Service may release one, for example of a fugitive.

Yes. A service called VINE sends you notices. Mississippi runs it through the Department of Corrections for county and state offenders. It reports transfers, releases, escapes and returns to custody. Not every jail may take part, so keep phoning the jail too.

• Search and register at VINELink.
• Or call toll-free 888-967-7284, open all day and night, with Spanish-speaking help.

When a county inmate is sent to state prison, the registration moves with them.

The first appearance before a judge must come within 48 hours. Justice Court typically takes county cases, while the West Point Municipal Court takes cases from city officers. The judge states the accusation, reviews your right to an attorney and to remain silent, and decides release terms. Miss that 48-hour mark with a bailable person, and the rules call for an appearance bond at the minimum amount.

• Judges begin with a written promise to return or an appearance bond.
• Money routes: a bondsman, a cash deposit, or a property bond.
• A cash deposit with the clerk is 10 percent of the bond or $250, whichever is more. Only some people qualify.
• A bondsman charges 10 percent or $100, whichever is higher, plus a $50 fee. None of it comes back. Confirm any agent's license through the state Insurance Department at 601-359-3582.
• When the charge is domestic violence, nobody can post bond until a judge has met the person.

Read our bail guide for this county, plus the Mississippi bail laws page.

The jail is the quickest source. Phone 662-494-2896 and ask for each charge and each bond. Keep a notepad with the full legal name and birthday.

Once a case is filed, the clerks can help:

• Misdemeanors: Justice Court, P.O. Box 674, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-6140.
• Felonies: the Circuit Clerk at the courthouse, 365 Court Street, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-3384.

Some courts also share dockets through Mississippi Electronic Courts. A court may not take part, so phoning stays the surest route. A charge is only an accusation, never proof of guilt.

The judge settles the question of a lawyer by the first appearance. Say plainly that the family cannot afford one. If the person qualifies, the judge names a lawyer.

The courts list public defenders for appointed cases. To reach one, ask the Justice Court clerk at 662-494-6140 about a misdemeanor, or the Circuit Clerk at 662-494-3384 about a felony.

Hiring a private attorney works at any time. Warn your person to keep case details off jail phone lines, since staff may tape those calls.

Visiting policy belongs to the jail and can shift. Call 662-494-2896 and ask for the days, hours, dress code, required ID and the number of guests allowed. Find out if guests sit in the same room or use a screen.

Find extra tips on our visiting page. Bring a photo ID, and ask staff what else you may carry in.

Funds in an inmate account cover commissary buys and call time. Ring the jail at 662-494-2896 and ask how deposits work: kiosk, website, mail or front desk. Ask what fees apply.

Read our deposit page and commissary page first. Use only the method staff give you. Never pay anyone who texts or calls offering to fix an account.

Most jails let inmates call out only. Calls usually cost money, come from an account, and may be recorded. Ask at 662-494-2896 which phone company serves the jail and how to open an account.

Our jail phone page explains rates. The jail email page covers online messages. Staff may read those messages.

Phone 662-494-2896 before you post anything. Ask for the exact mailing address and what the jail calls its inmate number.

The Sheriff's Office lists P.O. Box 142, West Point, MS 39773 as its mailing box. Ask whether inmate letters go there. Write the full name on the envelope, add an inmate number if staff say to, and write your own return address in the upper left. Send plain letters only until staff say more is allowed, since photos, books and cash are often turned away.

Our mail page has general tips.

The jail keeps items taken at booking. Call 662-494-2896 and ask who may collect them, which days work and what ID is needed. People usually get their things back when they are released.

If a relative must collect them, find out if the inmate must sign a paper first. Clothing, wallets and keys may follow different rules, so ask about each item.

Call the jail now at 662-494-2896. Give the person's name and describe the illness or the medicine. Ask to speak with the nurse or whoever runs the shift.

Have your person ask jail staff for a sick-call form too. Mention heart trouble, diabetes, seizures, pregnancy, asthma or thoughts of self-harm. In an emergency, staff can dial 911.

The Sheriff's Office serves warrants. Call 662-494-2896 or open its warrants page and the Most Wanted Fugitives link on its home page. Statewide, see Mississippi's Most Wanted.

You may also ask a clerk. Justice Court, P.O. Box 674, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-6140, keeps misdemeanor cases. The Circuit Clerk, 365 Court Street, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-3384, keeps felony cases. Clearing one starts with an attorney's advice, then a call to the issuing court to set up your surrender.

Our court guide explains the process. Local courts work like this:

• Justice Court handles misdemeanors outside city limits and early steps in felonies. Call 662-494-6140.
• West Point Municipal Court handles city tickets and ordinances. It sits Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. and the second and fourth Friday at 9:00 a.m. Call 662-494-6386.
• Circuit Court tries felonies after a grand jury indictment. Terms begin in January, April, July and October, and grand juries meet in April and October. Call the Circuit Clerk at 662-494-3384.

There is no County Court here. The state's felony trial clock is 270 days from arraignment, and a judge may extend it for good cause. The District Attorney's local office is at 205 Court Street, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-3389.

The federal court division for this part of north Mississippi meets in Aberdeen, in the Thomas G. Abernethy Federal Building, 301 West Commerce Street, Aberdeen, MS 39730, 662-234-1971.

Staying locked up or going free before trial is one federal judge's decision, made in a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142). The U.S. Marshals Service has an office in that same building, 662-369-4892. After sentencing, look in the Bureau of Prisons online locator.

Sometimes ICE sends a jail a Form I-247A, a request to keep a person in place. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the hold may last up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. Then ICE decides whether to take the person.

1. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator at locator.ice.gov.
2. Fill in the full name plus the birth country, or use the alien number printed on any ICE paperwork.
3. ICE's New Orleans Field Office oversees Mississippi. The locator names the facility.

See an immigration attorney quickly. You can also ask the jail at 662-494-2896 whether a detainer is on file.

When a court sends someone to prison, the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) sorts and classifies each person first. Intake sites are Parchman in the north, Central Mississippi near Pearl, and South Mississippi near Leakesville. That step runs between two weeks and 45 days. No visits are allowed, and calls are rare. Deputies drive the person over.

Check the MDOC inmate search, which lists state prisoners and not county detainees. See also our Mississippi state prisons page. Parole decisions belong to the State Parole Board.

A person under 18 is normally sent to Youth Court, not to an adult judge. Children should not sit in an adult jail. A hold beyond 24 hours needs a judge's order, and a judge needs to hold a detention hearing by hour 48.

The Youth Court meets in the courthouse, 365 Court Street, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-3124, often on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. Delinquency intake is at 360 Court Street, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-3307. No youth detention center is confirmed for this area, so ask Youth Court where a child is staying.

A child aged 13 or older charged with a life-or-death crime or a weapon offense may face adult court. For youth defense help, call 601-576-4206.

The arrest report names the agency. The jail can also tell you.

• West Point Police Department: 84 East Westbrook Street, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-1244. This is the main line, and no separate non-emergency number is listed.
• Clay County Sheriff's Office: 330 West Broad Street, West Point, MS 39773, 662-494-2896. Deputies patrol the rest of the county. Ask them who covers a small town.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop G: 1280 East Lee Boulevard, Starkville, MS 39759, 662-498-1054. The West Point city site shows another Starkville number, 662-323-5314, so ask which is current.