You need no login. This works from any phone or computer:

1. Open the Sheriff's jail roster. A notice comes first, and you accept it to move on.
2. Choose "Current Inmates" for people held today, or "48 Hour Release" for those who just left.
3. Enter a last name in the search field, or sort the list by name or by date.
4. Look over the entry for the booking number, age, booking time, charges and bond.
5. Open "View Profile" to see more, and keep the booking number handy for your call to the jail.

The notice on the roster says it is not an official record, so confirm anything important with the jail at 601-649-7502.

Finding nothing does not prove the person is free. Consider these cases:

• Paperwork lag. A new arrest may take hours to show up.
• A city cell comes first. A police department may keep someone for a short stretch before the jail receives them.
• Bonded out. Also scan the "48 Hour Release" list.
• Elsewhere. They could be in a neighboring jail, or in the hands of a state or federal agency.
• Spelling. Type nicknames, middle names or short forms.
• Age. Minors are kept in a separate youth building.

Ring the Adult Detention Facility, 601-649-7502. Late at night, try the Sheriff's line, 601-425-3147.

The Sheriff's Office runs the lockup. The main adult site is the Jones County Adult Detention Facility, 5178 Highway 11 North, Ellisville, MS 39437, 601-649-7502. The Sheriff says it houses people charged with crimes on behalf of local agencies, the state and, at times, federal agencies.

A person picked up in Laurel still ends up in Ellisville. The Sheriff's business office is at 419 Yates Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440, open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. To learn exactly where one person sleeps, such as which housing unit for men or women, ask the Sheriff at 601-425-3147.

Arrested nearer another county? See JE's pages for Forrest County, Jasper County or Wayne County.

They are. Each roster entry shows the booking photo. Now and then a picture is absent. The jail explains that a person brought in on a court writ for a mental health evaluation may have none, and a photo can be pulled when someone was violent or impaired and would not cooperate at booking.

If the roster has no picture, ask the arresting agency. If a deputy made the stop, reach the Sheriff's Office on 601-425-3147. Under Mississippi's open records statute (Title 25, Chapter 61), anyone may ask for a police incident report, and each arrested person is named in it. The agency can bill for the copies. No state law we know of orders a photo itself to be handed over.

• ICE booking pictures: file with the ICE records office online.
• Booking photos from federal agents mostly stay private, though the U.S. Marshals Service can share one, such as for a fugitive.

VINE is a Mississippi warning system, run by the state corrections department as SAVIN. A notice reaches you when a detainee is transferred, freed, on the run or booked again, whether held by the county or the state. If the person is later sent to prison, your registration goes along.

• Register on VINELink or phone 888-967-7284 any hour. Spanish is available.
• Since the state never lists which county jails take part, glance at the roster each day too.
• For a fast answer, reach the jail at 601-649-7502.

Someone held after arrest must be taken before a judge promptly, and no later than 48 hours in. Arrests by deputies usually lead to Justice Court, while city police arrests lead to the city's own Municipal Court. The judge goes over the accusation, raises the question of counsel and decides on release terms.

Mississippi prefers a plain promise to return or a signed appearance bond. When that is not enough, the judge may order cash, a pledge of land, or a bond through a bail agent. Bail agents take 10 percent of the amount (or $100 when that is higher) and add a $50 processing fee, and the money is not returned. Anyone held for domestic violence stays until a judge has seen them.

Ask the jail, 601-649-7502, if bond exists and where to pay. Have the full name ready and ask what else to bring. Typical amounts appear on our bail page. JE also posts a statewide bail law summary.

The roster prints the charges and bond for each booking. A first entry may be partial, and prosecutors can change it later. The jail can read the present charges aloud at 601-649-7502.

After a case moves to court, the Circuit Clerk keeps the file for felonies. The First District office is at 101 N. Court Street, Suite B, Ellisville, MS 39437, 601-477-8538. The Second District office is at 415 N. 5th Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440, 601-425-2556. Give the full name and birth date.

Many courts share dockets on Mississippi Electronic Courts, and Justice Court runs a lookup at jones.court.ms.

The judge raises the subject of legal help at the first hearing, and may assign a lawyer when the person has no money.

The Circuit Clerk can tell you who was assigned. Reach the First District office at 101 N. Court Street, Suite B, Ellisville, MS 39437, 601-477-8538, or the Second District office at 415 N. 5th Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440, 601-425-2556.

You may hire your own attorney. Skip the case facts on any jail line, since staff may record it.

The Sheriff's website gives no visiting schedule, so phone first. The Adult Detention Facility, 5178 Highway 11 North, Ellisville, MS 39437, picks up at 601-649-7502.

• Which days and hours fit the person's housing area?
• Is an appointment needed?
• What ID and minimum age apply?
• Which clothes and items are allowed?

Our visiting guide adds general advice.

The Sheriff's website sends families to Access Corrections. Go to their site with the inmate's full name and the booking number shown on the roster.

Canteen money covers snacks and basics, not bail. Phone 601-649-7502 about limits and fees. Our deposit guide and commissary guide go further.

The jail sets the phone company and the rules. Phone 601-649-7502 to ask how your person places calls, how you load a call account, and whether tablets or video chats exist. Also ask what a call costs.

Calls may be taped, so leave the case itself for your attorney. For usual setups, read how jail phones work and how inmate texting and email work.

Before posting anything, ring the Adult Detention Facility at 601-649-7502. Get the right mailing address, ask whether to print the booking number on the outside, and check the rules on cards, pictures and books.

Write the legal name of the inmate in the center, and list your return address top left. Never tuck cash inside. Common rules are listed in our mail guide.

What a person had when booked is stored until release. To bring clothing or collect property, call 601-649-7502. The facility is at 5178 Highway 11 North, Ellisville, MS 39437.

Find out who may collect, what ID is required and which hours the property room keeps. A signed release may be needed.

Phone 601-649-7502 and ask for the nurse or shift supervisor. Tell them the person's name, the symptoms, the name and strength of every drug, and the prescribing doctor.

Also have the person file a written care request inside. If it is an emergency, phone 911. If you fear for their mind, state that first.

Deputies from the Sheriff's Office, 419 Yates Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440, serve the warrants here. Ask them by calling the all-hours line, 601-425-3147. You may also read the Sheriff's most wanted pages and the state's Mississippi's Most Wanted list. To check court records, phone the Circuit Clerk at 101 N. Court Street, Suite B, Ellisville, MS 39437, 601-477-8538, or at 415 N. 5th Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440, 601-425-2556. To get rid of a warrant, speak with an attorney first. Next, call the court behind it to set up a surrender.

Each court tracks its own calendar:

• Felony cases, First District: Circuit Clerk, 101 N. Court Street, Suite B, Ellisville, MS 39437, 601-477-8538.
• Felony cases, Second District: Circuit Clerk, 415 N. 5th Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440, 601-425-2556.
• Smaller charges outside city limits: use the Justice Court lookup at jones.court.ms.
• City tickets and arrests: ask that city's police which municipal court has it.

A summons or jail paper should name the court. To follow a case step by step, see our Jones County court guide.

A federal case from here is sent to the Southern District's Eastern Division, whose courthouse is the William M. Colmer Federal Building at 701 North Main Street, Suite 200, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, 601-255-6400.

1. Whether the accused waits in custody or at home is for a federal magistrate or judge to say at a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. For the place of a pretrial prisoner, call the U.S. Marshals Service, 701 North Main Street, Suite 331, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, 601-582-8464.
3. Read filings through PACER.
4. Once sentenced, try the federal prison locator.

A detainer is a note ICE sends to a jail, on Form I-247A, asking staff to keep a person. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), that hold lasts up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. The New Orleans Field Office of ICE oversees this state, and ICE also names a Jackson, MS office.

1. Ask the jail, 601-649-7502, whether a detainer is on file.
2. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Search by full name together with birth country. An A-number works as well.
3. Speak to an immigration attorney quickly.

A sentenced person is driven by deputies into the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Reception and classification happen at one of three state prisons chosen by home county, a stretch of up to 45 days that can be as short as two weeks. Visits stop then and calls are limited. For the site used, phone the Sheriff at 601-425-3147.

• The MDOC inmate search only covers people in state prisons. County jail inmates are missing from it.
• JE's state prisons page covers each prison.
• Parole is ruled on by another group, the state's parole board.

Minors normally go through Youth Court rather than the adult jail. The Sheriff runs the Juvenile Detention Facility beside the adult jail, at 5172 Highway 11, Ellisville, MS 39437, 601-649-7500. Call to ask if a child is inside and when the hearing is.

A child may stay beyond 24 hours only by court order, and a detention hearing follows by day two. A youth aged 13 or more accused of a crime involving a deadly weapon, or one that carries life or death, is handled in adult court. The Circuit Clerk also serves Youth Court: 101 N. Court Street, Suite B, Ellisville, MS 39437, 601-477-8538, or 415 N. 5th Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440, 601-425-2556.

Ask the officer who made the arrest for an agency name and report number. Agencies at work here:

• Jones County Sheriff's Office, 419 Yates Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440, 601-425-3147, staffed around the clock for non-emergencies. Deputies patrol outside city limits, and the Sheriff runs the jail at 5178 Highway 11 North, Ellisville, MS 39437.
• Tip line, 601-428-7867, for crime tips only.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop J, 35 J.M. Tatum Drive, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, 601-582-3529, serving this county.

Cities and towns may have their own police. Ask the Sheriff's line which agency covers the spot of the arrest.