The Sheriff's Office keeps this list for the county jail. To use it, go in order:

1. Open the Sheriff's inmate search on your phone or computer.
2. Enter the last name. Two letters are the least the form will take.
3. Read the short notice at the top. It reminds you that being listed does not mean someone was convicted.
4. Try the nickname, the middle name, or a spelling that sounds the same.
5. Once you spot the person, write down the name exactly as shown. Save any docket number as well, since jail mail relies on it.

The list may leave out charges and bond amounts. Dial 228-896-3000 to hear those from jail staff.

Not seeing a name can happen for plain reasons:

• New arrival. Intake paperwork takes time, so the list can trail behind.
• At a police station. A city police station sometimes holds a suspect for a short time first.
• Already released. Maybe the person posted bond, or a judge ordered the person freed.
• Sent elsewhere. The person might be at the work center, in a neighboring county or in federal hands.
• A minor. Children's cases run on separate rules, covered in the last few answers.
• Another spelling. Try other forms of the name.

Jail staff can run a name at 228-896-3000. The Sheriff's main desk answers at 228-865-7060.

The Sheriff runs two adult sites, and both sit in Gulfport.

• Adult Detention Center, 10451 Larkin Smith Drive, Gulfport, MS 39503, 228-896-3000. This is the main lockup for men and women. It takes felony and misdemeanor arrests, state and federal prisoners, people waiting for a mental health placement and youths charged as adults. Roughly four of every five people inside are awaiting trial. Built in 1990 for 760 beds, it has lately held 800 to 900 people.
• Inmate Work Center, 10046 Lorraine Road, Gulfport, MS 39503, 228-896-0890. About 140 to 160 sentenced state prisoners live here and work on crews for the county and its cities. A new arrest does not start here.

A person arrested close to the county line could be in a nearby county's jail. JE has pages for the Hancock County jail and the Jackson County jail. The Stone County Correctional Facility is at 1420 Industrial Park Road, Wiggins, MS 39577, 601-928-7042.

Not sure which door to try? The Sheriff's desk at 228-865-7060 can point you to the right one.

You can try the Sheriff's search to see whether it displays mugshots next to a name. Photos may or may not appear there. When none does, the agency that made the arrest decides whether to hand one over. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 228-865-7060, or ask the police department of the city involved.

Mississippi's Public Records Act makes police incident reports open to anyone, and each report names every person arrested and charged. The agency may bill for copies. Nothing in the state law we reviewed orders an agency to hand over the photo, so a refusal is possible.

• A booking photo held by ICE must be requested from ICE under its FOIA process, using this ICE form page.
• Mugshots taken by a federal agency are generally kept private. The lone exception is the U.S. Marshals Service, which can hand out a picture in something like a fugitive case.

VINE is a notice program backed by the state corrections department. If someone held by the county or the state is transferred, freed or caught after fleeing, registered users get a message. A county inmate who ends up in state prison stays on your list.

• Search by name and register at VINELink.
• Or call 888-967-7284 at any hour, and ask for Spanish if you prefer it.

We cannot promise that every county jail feeds VINE. Keep calling 228-896-3000 before you drive to the jail.

A judge sets the terms of release. Key facts:

• Anyone who remains locked up has to appear before a judge, and the clock is 48 hours from arrest. Justice Court usually takes arrests made outside a city, while a city's own Municipal Court takes the ones made inside it.
• At the first hearing the judge covers the charges, tells the person a lawyer is allowed and that silence is allowed. After that the judge decides on conditions for getting out of jail. The amount is the judge's call, never the jailer's.
• When two days pass with no hearing, a person who may have bail goes free on an appearance bond set at the lowest amount in the state schedule.
• Judges begin with the mildest choice: let the person go on a signed promise to appear, or on a bond. Extra rules may include no contact, a curfew, travel limits or drug tests.
• Think of the state's guide ranges as rough marks. For a misdemeanor with a top sentence of a year, the guide says $500 to $2,000. For a ten-year felony it says $5,000 to $50,000.
• In a domestic violence case bail waits for a judge's review, and the judge can then add a hold of no more than 24 hours.
• A capital charge can mean no bail at all when the proof is clear. If the person is arrested for another felony while free on bond, that bond can end.

Ways to pay: A licensed bondsman charges the greater of 10 percent of the bail or $100, plus a $50 processing fee, and you do not get that fee back. Look up a license with the Mississippi Insurance Department, 601-359-3582. A cash deposit bond costs the greater of 10 percent or $250, paid to the clerk, and only some people qualify. A property bond uses a sworn statement about land in Mississippi.

The Sheriff adds a $25 processing charge to each bond, and the Sheriff's website links to an online payment service. Ask 228-896-3000 for the final total before you pay anyone.

Our bail page goes into more depth, and Mississippi's bail laws are laid out on a separate page.

Start with the jail at 228-896-3000. Staff can read you what the arrest paperwork says. Say the name and birthday clearly.

Once prosecutors file a case, the clerk's office knows more. Felonies go to Circuit Court:

• First Judicial District, 1801 23rd Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39501, 228-865-4051
• Second Judicial District, 730 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Biloxi, MS 39533, 228-435-8233

Misdemeanors usually sit in Justice Court, and a Circuit Clerk can tell you which one has the file. Some dockets also appear in Mississippi Electronic Courts, which asks for a login. Do not assume your court is on it.

Whether a lawyer is appointed gets decided by the first hearing. Tell the judge the person cannot pay, and ask for help right then.

A public defender office works in Harrison County. To find out how to reach it, call a Circuit Clerk in Gulfport at 228-865-4051 or in Biloxi at 228-435-8233. Hiring a lawyer of your own is allowed too. The state's appeals defenders handle felony appeals and death penalty cases, and their number is 601-576-4290.

The inmate handbook lays out these rules:

• Every visit is made by video. A visit in person needs the Warden's approval, so call the Warden's Office at 228-896-0677.
• Adult guests show a government photo ID. A visitor under 18 must be with a parent.
• The dress code is strict. Leave hats, caps and bandanas at home.
• Staff record and watch each video visit. Do not use a second phone or a computer during it, and do not link the visit to social media or FaceTime.

Visit days, hours and sign-up steps come from the jail, 228-896-3000. Read our visiting page before you go.

The person needs a canteen account before a deposit can land. Canteen money, used for snacks and hygiene items, goes in through Premier Link:

• Online at commissarydeposit.com.
• At a lobby kiosk, either at the jail, 10451 Larkin Smith Drive, Gulfport, MS 39503, or at the work center, 10046 Lorraine Road, Gulfport, MS 39503. Cash costs $2.50 there, and a credit card adds 10 percent.

Money for calls and messages goes to City Tele Coin. Use citytelecoin.com or the same lobby kiosks. Its help line is 318-746-1114.

Cash and money orders sent by mail are refused. The Warden must approve any check before it counts. Canteen buys are capped at $100 each week. More on deposits and canteen buys is on our deposit page and canteen page.

City Tele Coin runs the phone system, and all calls are recorded. These prices were in effect on April 30, 2024, so check current rates with the company at 318-746-1114:

• Local or in-state call: 21 cents a minute
• Out-of-state call: 28 cents a minute
• International call: around 50 cents a minute
• Video visit: 25 cents a minute
• Text-style message: 25 cents each way

Do not pass messages to another inmate for the person. The jail can shut off the phone and message account for good. Trying to buy canteen goods through other inmates can lead to a call block and a visit ban of at least six months. Our phone page and messaging page give extra background.

Phone 228-896-3000 before you mail anything. Ask for today's mailing address and for the person's cell block, section and cell number. The handbook builds the address from the booked name with the docket number, then the cell location.

Staff scan personal letters. The person reads them on a kiosk, and the paper originals are shredded. Rules to follow:

• Put the sender's full name and a complete return address on the envelope. Otherwise the jail turns the letter away.
• Letters are delivered Monday through Friday, except on holidays.
• Do not send packages, padded envelopes, mail from third parties, flyers or vendor cards. Skip tape, glue, stickers and glitter.
• Puzzles, internet printouts, news clippings, copied book pages and magazine pages are banned. A private sender can include up to two pages of statutes or case law a day.
• Photos top out at 4 by 6 inches, and everyone shown must wear clothes.

Ask the jail how to send a book. More tips sit on our mail page.

The person files a property release request on the kiosk. The front desk then notifies the friend or relative named. You may pick up any day, weekends included, between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Bring a current photo ID. The jail is at 10451 Larkin Smith Drive, Gulfport, MS 39503, and 228-896-3000 can confirm the exact pickup spot.

Staff never open a sealed bag to hunt for something. An item the receiving agency will not take is kept for 30 days and then destroyed. Anyone headed to state prison must carry property along, so arrange pickup before the transfer.

On release, the person hands back everything issued at booking except hygiene items. A release may slow down if the jail cannot confirm identity.

Call 228-896-3000 and ask to reach the medical team. Have the medicine names, doses and prescribing doctor in hand. In a crisis, dial 911.

Inside, the person sends a request through the kiosk. Staff handle emergencies at all hours. The first health check, due within 14 days of arrival, costs nothing. Most other appointments, lab work and visits the person starts cost $10. Injuries from accidents and fights are free of charge.

When a relative is critically ill or has died, ask to speak with the chaplain.

Deputies in the Sheriff's Office serve warrants. Call the warrants and extradition desk, 228-896-0610, and ask if one exists. The statewide Mississippi Most Wanted list also helps. You can ask the Circuit Clerk, 1801 23rd Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39501, 228-865-4051, to look up a name, or the Biloxi office, 730 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Biloxi, MS 39533, 228-435-8233. Keep the name and birthday handy. Speak with a lawyer to clear a warrant, and ask the court that issued it what turning yourself in involves. For a misdemeanor warrant, the clerk can say which Justice Court holds it.

Each court sets its own dates, and our court page walks through each stage. The county has two court sites:

• Gulfport, 1801 23rd Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39501. Circuit Clerk 228-865-4051. Court line 228-865-4145.
• Biloxi, 730 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Biloxi, MS 39533. Circuit Clerk 228-435-8233. Court line 228-435-8257.

For a felony, a grand jury indictment comes before the case reaches Circuit Court. County Court meets in those same two buildings. Justice Court takes most misdemeanors and the early steps of felonies. Ask a clerk which court holds the file. Cases in a city's Municipal Court are named on the ticket or notice. State rules aim to start a trial no more than 270 days after arraignment, with delays allowed only for good cause.

This county falls in the Gulfport-based Southern Division of the federal Southern District of Mississippi. Find the court in the building named for Dan M. Russell, Jr., 2012 15th Street, Suite 403, Gulfport, MS 39501, 228-563-1700.

1. A federal judge uses the detention hearing to pick between waiting at home and waiting in custody (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Until trial, the U.S. Marshals Service oversees the person. The Gulfport Marshals office is in that building, Suite 302, 228-563-1505. The Adult Detention Center takes federal prisoners too.
3. People who cannot pay can ask the Federal Public Defender, 2510 14th Street, Room 902, Gulfport, MS 39501, 228-865-1202.
4. After sentencing, enter the name in the Bureau of Prisons' online inmate locator.

1. The process starts when ICE fills out Form I-247A. That form is the immigration detainer.
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 then picks the person up. The ICE New Orleans Field Office handles Mississippi.
4. Then look the person up through the ICE Online Detainee Locator, Type the full name, and add the birth country to narrow the match.

ICE's public document library lists two 2025 agreements with the Sheriff's Office under its 287(g) program: a Jail Enforcement Model and a Warrant Service Officer agreement. To learn how they apply to someone held now, ring 228-896-3000.

Mississippi sends each newly sentenced prisoner first to a reception and classification stay run by the Department of Corrections. Three sites do this work: the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility near Pearl, the South Mississippi Correctional Facility near Leakesville, and the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. The person's home county decides which one. Expect two weeks up to 45 days there, with visits stopped and only limited phone use. A county deputy takes the person over.

• Use the state corrections inmate search. It covers state prisoners and leaves out people in county jails.
• JE's state prisons page has more.
• The Mississippi State Parole Board decides parole.

Before the transfer, ask the jail at 228-896-3000 about picking up property.

A child is usually sent to Youth Court, and the county's County Court judge hears those cases. That court meets at 1801 23rd Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39501, 228-865-4145, and at 730 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Biloxi, MS 39533, 228-435-8257. Phone the court office at either address for the child's location and hearing date.

• Only a judge can order a child held past one day, and a detention hearing has to follow within two days.
• Children are generally kept out of adult jails. Teens of 13 and older who face a life-or-death charge, or one with a deadly weapon, see an adult judge instead. The Adult Detention Center says it houses youths charged as adults.
• After a court commitment, some youths are placed at the Oakley Youth Development Center, 2375 Oakley Road, Raymond, MS 39154.
• The state's Youth Defense office is at 601-576-4206.

The arrest paperwork usually names the agency. If it does not, the Sheriff's Office can help.

• Sheriff's Office, mail to P.O. Box 1480, Gulfport, MS 39502, main and non-emergency 228-865-7060. Deputies cover the areas outside city limits. Warrants desk: 228-896-0610. Process offices: Gulfport 228-865-4137 and Biloxi 228-435-4220.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop K, 16741 Highway 67, Biloxi, MS 39532, 228-396-7450. This troop covers the county's highways.
• City police patrol inside their own city limits. The Sheriff's desk can tell you which city department booked the person and how to reach it.