Try these five moves in order:

1. Go to the jail lookup.
2. Type just the surname at first. A first name helps once too many rows show up.
3. Still nothing? Swap in a nickname, a hyphenated name or a spelling variant.
4. If a row appears for your person, they are in custody.
5. Save any ID number beside the name. Quote it when you phone, and the clerk finds the file sooner.

The lookup answers one question: is this person held? For charges, bond and a release date, ring 601-765-8281.

A search with no hits is not always final. The person could be held, or kept at a place you did not check. Usual causes:

• Paperwork in progress. Booking is slow, and the entry can lag behind the arrest.
• A town officer holds them first. A city department may keep someone a short while before the handoff to the county.
• Bonded out. A bail agent or a judge may already have sent them home.
• Another facility. They could be in the cells of another county or at a regional facility.
• Spelling. Clerks make typos. Try every version of the name.

Booking staff can settle it in one call at 601-765-8281: held, released or transferred.

Arrests by deputies lead to the county jail, 1107 Main Street, Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-8281. It answers to the Sheriff and is the one adult jail on our records for the county.

• Arrested elsewhere. The Sheriff of that county would hold the person. Browse our Mississippi jail directory to find that jail.
• Sent to a regional facility. The state lists 15 regional correctional facilities. Ask the Sheriff's Office whether your person went to one.
• Federal or state custody. The federal and state prison answers further down explain those searches.

Mugshots are booking photos. The lookup may or may not display one. If none shows, put the question to the arresting department, which decides whether to release one: the Sheriff's Office at 601-765-8281, or Collins police at 601-765-6541.

Mississippi's public records statute begins at Miss. Code § 25-61-1, and it treats a police incident report as public. Whoever was arrested and charged appears on each report; the relevant sections are 25-61-3 and also 25-61-12. Charging a fee for copies is allowed under § 25-61-7. No Mississippi rule we found orders the photo itself to be handed over.

• For a photo ICE holds, send a request via the ICE records request site.
• Pictures from a federal booking are normally withheld. The U.S. Marshals Service may release one, as it might when hunting a runaway.

Mississippi's victim notice system, SAVIN, runs on VINE. It tracks county and state offenders. A notice goes out when a person is transferred, let go, on the run or back in custody.

• Register at VINELink.
• Or dial the all-hours toll-free number, 888-967-7284. Staff speak English and Spanish.
• When a county inmate goes to state prison, the same sign-up keeps working.

Because VINE may skip some jails, keep rechecking the lookup too. The jail can confirm status at 601-765-8281.

A judge, not a jailer, chooses the terms. A judge has to see any arrested person who is kept in custody inside 48 hours (MRCrP Rule 5.1). County cases usually go to Justice Court, and city cases to that city's Municipal Court. When 48 hours pass with no judge, a person who can have bail leaves under the lowest scheduled appearance bond.

At the hearing, the judge starts by asking if a signed promise will do, or if a bond is needed to secure the next court date. Tougher terms need a finding that the easy ones will fail or that the person is dangerous. Ways to pay:

• Bondsman. Expect to pay 10 percent of the bail with a $100 minimum, and a $50 processing fee on top. Fifteen percent applies to a capital charge or to someone living outside Mississippi. None of it comes back (§ 83-39-25). Look up a bondsman's license through the Mississippi Insurance Department, 601-359-3582.
• Cash deposit with the clerk. Hand over 10 percent of the bond or $250, whichever is larger. It is open only to people with no past conviction for an offense that could bring over a year in prison.
• Land or a home. A sworn paper shows enough Mississippi property.

Guideline ranges help judges: $500 to $2,000 for a one-year misdemeanor, and $5,000 to $50,000 for a felony with a 10-year top penalty. A judge can pick other numbers. Domestic violence arrests get no bail before a judge sees the person. More help is on our bail guide and the Mississippi bail law summary.

At 601-765-8281, jail staff can go through the booking file and read you each charge. Keep the legal name and birthday handy.

Later, the court file holds the formal accusation. Felony files sit with the Circuit Clerk, 101 S. Dogwood Ave., Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-6506. Misdemeanor files are kept by the Justice Court clerk, P.O. Box 665, Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-6581. An incident report from the arresting agency lists everyone arrested and charged.

Part of the court system is searchable on Mississippi Electronic Courts, one login for courts that have joined.

Whether the court pays for a lawyer is settled no later than the first appearance, when the judge weighs the person's finances. Families can also pay for private counsel.

The Circuit Clerk, 601-765-6506, 101 S. Dogwood Ave., Collins, MS 39428, can name who accepts appointments here. Justice Court answers at 601-765-6581.

In Jackson, the state public defender's office, 601-576-4290, takes most felony appeals. Share the whole story with the lawyer, and keep talk about the case off jail calls.

Days, hours, dress and ID rules belong to the jail, and they shift. Call 601-765-8281 before heading to 1107 Main Street, Collins, MS 39428.

Questions worth asking:

• What are visiting days and times?
• Must I book a slot?
• Which photo ID works?
• Can kids visit?
• Are video visits offered?

Our visit guide has first-timer tips.

Deposits cover snacks, soap and, at some jails, calls. Ring 601-765-8281 to learn the deposit options, the limits, and whether a kiosk, the web or the lobby takes payment. Keep the person's full name at hand.

Our deposit guide covers common methods, and the commissary guide lists items you can buy. Cash never goes in an envelope.

Most jails let people call out only. Ask at 601-765-8281 how to open a calling account, the per-minute price, and whether text or video options exist.

Assume someone is listening and keep case details to yourself. More is in our phone guide and the message and email guide.

The jail sits at 1107 Main Street, Collins, MS 39428. Before you post anything, call 601-765-8281 and ask how to format the address, what to print beside the name, and which items are allowed.

Put the legal name on the front of the envelope and your own address on the back flap. Leave out cash and other extras unless staff approve. Our letter guide lists the usual rules.

What a person carried in stays boxed until release. To bring clothes or take items home, call 601-765-8281. Find out who is allowed to collect, whether a signature is required and which hours apply. Carry photo ID to 1107 Main Street, Collins, MS 39428.

Call 601-765-8281 and describe the problem, the drug name, the dose and the doctor. Tell your person to file a written medical request as well. If it is an emergency, use 911.

Deputies from the Sheriff's Office, 1107 Main Street, Collins, MS 39428, serve warrants. Phone 601-765-8281 and ask whether one is open under the name. The state's Mississippi Most Wanted page shows fugitives sought across Mississippi. Felony paperwork can be checked with the Circuit Clerk, 101 S. Dogwood Ave., Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-6506. Misdemeanor paperwork sits with the Justice Court clerk, P.O. Box 665, Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-6581. If one exists, talk with an attorney first. Afterward, contact the court that issued the paper and set up a surrender.

Ring the court that holds the case file:

• Justice Court: misdemeanors and first felony hearings, 601-765-6581, mail to P.O. Box 665, Collins, MS 39428.
• Circuit Court: felonies after a grand jury indictment. Its clerk is at 101 S. Dogwood Ave., Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-6506, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Municipal Court: city offenses. The arresting city's police can point you to it.

Trial is meant to start within 270 days after arraignment, unless a valid cause pushes it back. Our hearing guide walks through each stage.

The Eastern Division of the Southern District of Mississippi (U.S. District Court) takes federal charges from here. It sits at the William M. Colmer Federal Building, 701 North Main Street, Suite 200, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, 601-255-6400.

1. At the detention hearing, a federal judge weighs release against custody until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Before trial, the U.S. Marshals Service keeps the person. Ask its Hattiesburg office, 701 North Main Street, Suite 331, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, 601-582-8464, where.
3. Following a federal sentence, the housing site appears in the Bureau of Prisons locator.

1. The jail may receive an ICE immigration 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. After that, ICE can take the person into custody. This state falls in the ICE New Orleans Field Office area, while a second ICE office is listed in Jackson, MS.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator by A-number. Without one, enter the legal name and the birth country.

Only a licensed attorney can advise on the person's immigration choices.

A person sentenced to prison starts at a Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) reception site, where staff decide the placement. One is Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, 3794 MS Hwy 468, Pearl, MS 39208, 601-932-2880. Expect about two weeks, and up to 45 days. Visits do not happen then, and calls are few. Deputies from the county do the transport.

• Try the MDOC search page with a name or MDOC number. Only state prisoners appear there, not people in a county jail.
• Visit and mail details are on our Mississippi state prison guide.
• The Mississippi State Parole Board alone decides parole.

Youth Court usually handles anyone under 18. It works from P.O. Box 1679, Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-4242. Ask there where the child is kept and when the detention hearing falls.

• A judge must order any hold longer than 24 hours (Miss. Code § 43-21-303(4)).
• The detention hearing comes within 48 hours (see § 43-21-307, then § 43-21-309).
• As a rule, a child is not placed in an adult jail (§ 43-21-315).
• A child 13 or older accused of an offense with a life or death penalty, or with a deadly weapon, goes to adult court instead (§ 43-21-151).

Some committed youths are sent to Oakley Youth Development Center, 2375 Oakley Road, Raymond, MS 39154. A child's defense lawyer can be reached through Youth Defense at the Office of State Public Defender, 601-576-4206.

The arrest report names the agency. These work here:

• Collins Police Department, 202 Arrington Dr, Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-6541.
• Sheriff's Office, 1107 Main Street, Collins, MS 39428, 601-765-8281. Deputies cover areas outside town limits.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop J, 35 J.M. Tatum Drive, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, 601-582-3529. This troop serves the county.

Smaller towns like Mount Olive may have separate police. Ask the Sheriff's Office who to phone for those towns.