The Sheriff's website runs the roster for the DeKalb facility. Here is the path to a result:

1. Go to the Sheriff's inmate search. A notice page appears first. Agree to it and the roster opens.
2. Pick the current inmates list. Another list holds people released within the past two days.
3. Hunt for the last name. Since the roster runs long and still shows people who left, press Ctrl+F (or use your phone's find option).
4. Check the mugshot against what you know, then tap View Profile.
5. Copy the booking number. The jail wants it on mail and on money deposits, and it helps staff pull the file quickly.

Still stuck? Ring 601-743-5767 and ask for booking.

When nothing appears, one of these may be why:

• Booking is underway. A new arrest can take hours to appear.
• A town office has them. If a town police department holds them, the agency that arrested them can say.
• They bonded out. A bond could be paid already, or a judge could have released them.
• They were transferred. Another county's sheriff, or the state prison system, may now have custody.
• Spelling tricks. Swap a short name for its long form, add a hyphen, or use a former surname.
• Age. Minors are generally sent elsewhere, not to the adult jail.

Phone the jail at 601-743-5767. For anything after hours, the Sheriff's line, 601-743-2255, picks up around the clock.

Adults are kept in one large complex with three pieces:

• Kemper/Neshoba Regional Correctional Facility (phone 601-743-5767), at 374 Stennis Industrial Park Road in DeKalb, MS 39328. Its beds are split about like this: 75 for county inmates, 50 shared by county and state, and 355 for state inmates.
• Joint County Work Center. Chosen inmates go out on crews that collect roadside trash on state and county roads or repair churches. Ask the jail where the center sits.
• Children. The complex does not house them. The Sheriff's page says they stay in Scott County.

The Sheriff's Office sits in a different building, 330 Stennis Industrial Park Road, DeKalb, MS 39328. Walk-in hours run Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Its phone, 601-743-2255, is staffed all day and night.

If the stop took place close to a neighboring county, also try the Winston/Choctaw County Correctional Facility, 22064 MS Hwy 25 North, Louisville, MS 39339, 662-773-2528. JE also has county pages for Neshoba, Lauderdale and Noxubee, which border this county.

Yes. A mugshot sits next to each name on the Sheriff's list, and View Profile opens more detail. Look at them through the Sheriff's inmate search.

Perhaps you need an older photo or a written report. Incident reports written by police and deputies are public under the Public Records Act (Miss. Code § 25-61-12(2)). Each report names those the police arrested and charged (§ 25-61-3(e)), and copies may cost money (§ 25-61-7). Ask the Sheriff's Office, 601-743-2255, how to make a request.

• ICE keeps its own photos. Submit a FOIA request at the ICE records request page.
• Do not expect a federal mugshot, since they are not released. The sole exception is the U.S. Marshals Service, which can publish a photo while hunting someone who ran.

Yes. Mississippi's VINE service reaches you by text, phone or email when a person in county or state custody is transferred, freed, escapes or returns. Register at VINELink, or phone 888-967-7284 at any hour, with staff speaking English or Spanish.

Look up the person, then enter your contact details. If the person later enters a state prison, your registration goes along. Nobody has confirmed that every county jail uses VINE, so keep refreshing the Sheriff's roster or call 601-743-5767.

A judge, not the jail, picks the release terms. Every held person gets in front of a judge inside 48 hours of the arrest. For an arrest in the county, that is most often Justice Court. A person picked up inside town limits may see that town's judge instead. The judge explains the accusation, reminds the person of the right to stay quiet, handles the lawyer question, and decides the terms.

• Judges start by thinking about release on a signed pledge to return, or on an appearance bond.
• Added rules might include a curfew, no contact with someone, travel limits or drug tests.
• After a domestic violence arrest, bail is not set until the accused sees a judge, who may then order up to 24 more hours in custody (§ 99-5-37).
• Most accused people have a right to bail. Only the most serious offenses let a judge say no.

Ways to pay include cash, paying the court a deposit of $250 or 10% of the bond, whichever is greater (a choice only some people have), a property bond on Mississippi land, or a bail agent. An agent's price is 10 percent of the bail or $100, whichever is larger, plus a $50 handling fee, and none of it comes back. Verify the license at mid.ms.gov or through the Insurance Department, 601-359-3582.

To find out where and when to pay, phone the jail at 601-743-5767. You can find more help on our bail page and in the Mississippi bail law summary.

The roster lists charges next to each booking. For clarity on one, call the jail at 601-743-5767.

Once prosecutors file a case, the court clerk holds the paperwork:

• Felony cases: the Circuit Clerk, 123 Main Street, DeKalb, MS 39328, 601-743-8375.
• Misdemeanor cases: the Justice Court clerk, P.O. Box 661, DeKalb, MS 39328, 601-743-2793.

Give the clerk the complete name plus the birth date. Courts that join Mississippi Electronic Courts also allow online docket access; start at the MEC overview.

Someone without money for a lawyer needs to tell the judge at the first appearance. Under Mississippi rules, the decision on a court-appointed attorney is made by that first appearance at the latest.

Ask the Circuit Clerk, 601-743-8375, or the Justice Court clerk, 601-743-2793, which court is handling the case and how appointments work there.

Families may retain a private lawyer whenever they like. The Office of State Public Defender (Jackson), 601-576-4290, covers most felony appeals and death-penalty cases. An attorney can also file a motion to reduce a bond.

Rules for visits can change from month to month. Phone 601-743-5767 with these questions:

• Which weekdays and hours are open to visitors?
• Is an appointment required?
• Which photo ID is accepted, and what is the youngest allowed visitor?
• Is video visiting possible?
• Which clothes are banned, and what must stay in the car?

Keep the booking number close. The building is at 374 Stennis Industrial Park Road in DeKalb, MS 39328. Our visiting guide adds general tips on dress and conduct.

On its jail page, the Sheriff directs families to CommissaryDeposit.com for inmate accounts. That is the official deposit route. The balance pays for snacks and hygiene goods.

Enter the person's complete name and the booking ID number from the roster. When a deposit seems lost, ring 601-743-5767. Do not mail currency.

Our money guide compares deposit methods, while the commissary guide lists typical purchases. Bond money is a different thing, so use the bail steps above for that.

The Sheriff's jail page names Citi-Tel Coin (CTC) as the telephone provider. Families can reach CTC at 318-746-1114 to set up an account and learn the rates.

Does the jail offer tablets, texting or email? Staff at 601-743-5767 can say. Assume someone may listen, and keep case talk for your attorney.

Two more reads: our phone guide for inmates' families and our email and text explainer.

Mail reaches inmates every day. Print the full name and the booking ID number on each item. Send ordinary letters here:

• Kemper/Neshoba Regional Correctional Facility
• Post Office Box 9102
• Seminole, FL 33775

That box handles all regular mail. The street address, 374 Stennis Industrial Park Road in DeKalb, MS 39328, takes legal mail only. Add your return address in the corner.

Before sending photos, cards or books, ask 601-743-5767. Our mail guide lists the usual restrictions. Currency should never go in an envelope.

The jail keeps what an arrested person carried in until release. To collect items for them, phone 601-743-5767. Learn the hours, the ID to bring, and whether the inmate must sign a release.

The jail's address is 374 Stennis Industrial Park Road in DeKalb, MS 39328. The Sheriff's Office is another building on that same road, so check the number before you go.

Two nurses work at the jail, and one is on call every hour of the day for emergencies. For routine care, an inmate files a written request each day that names the reason.

Urge the person to submit that request. Then phone 601-743-5767 and pass along the diagnosis and medicine names. A county inmate who takes medicine should have it with them, or a relative can deliver it in the original bottle. The nurse hands it out as the doctor directs.

A life-threatening situation means dialing 911.

The Sheriff's Office serves warrants. Call 601-743-2255, office at 330 Stennis Industrial Park Road, DeKalb, MS 39328, and ask about a name. The Sheriff posts a Most Wanted page, and the state keeps its own Mississippi's Most Wanted list. Have the name's exact spelling and the birth year on hand. Never ignore a warrant, because an arrest can happen at any traffic stop. For court records, contact the Circuit Clerk, 123 Main Street, DeKalb, MS 39328, 601-743-8375. If a warrant exists, speak with an attorney first. Afterward, phone the issuing court to work out a surrender.

Every court runs its own calendar:

• Circuit Court is where felonies land once grand jurors vote to indict. Phone the Circuit Clerk, 123 Main Street, DeKalb, MS 39328, 601-743-8375.
• Justice Court covers misdemeanors and holds the first felony hearings. It meets once or twice monthly. Phone P.O. Box 661, DeKalb, MS 39328, 601-743-2793.
• A town offense might go before a town court. Ask DeKalb Town Hall, 94 Bell Street, DeKalb, MS 39328, 601-743-2870, or Scooba Town Hall, 888 Edward E. Nave Drive, Scooba, MS 39358, 662-476-8451.

Felony defendants should reach trial within 270 days of arraignment, with exceptions when the judge sees cause (Miss. R. Crim. P. 9). Our court page describes every step.

Kemper County belongs to the Southern District of Mississippi, Northern Division. Its courthouse is the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse, 501 East Court Street, Jackson, MS 39201 (clerk in Suite 2.500), 601-608-4000.

1. The first federal hearings include a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142), where the judge chooses jail or release before trial.
2. Before trial, the U.S. Marshals Service can say where the person sits. Its Jackson office is in the same building, Suite 1.150, 601-608-6800.
3. Once sentenced, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator with the name.

The steps often go as follows:

1. The hold request arrives as a Form I-247A from ICE.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), a jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. After that, ICE collects the person. The New Orleans Field Office oversees Mississippi, and Jackson, MS has an ICE office too.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator by A-number, or enter the first name, last name and birth country.

When the locator has no match, ask the jail at 601-743-5767 if a detainer came in.

A prison term starts with intake run by the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). Sites are Parchman in the north, a site near Leakesville in the south, and the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in the middle, at 3794 MS Hwy 468, Pearl, MS 39208, 601-932-2880. Sorting can last two weeks to 45 days. Visits are off during intake and calls are restricted. County deputies make the drive.

• State prisoners, and only they, appear in the MDOC inmate search. County detainees do not.
• JE's list of Mississippi prisons has details on each one.
• Questions about parole go to the State Parole Board.

Youth Court, not adult court, deals with most children. The Sheriff says Kemper County youths are housed in Scott County. Mississippi law bars holding a child more than a day unless a judge orders it (Miss. Code § 43-21-303(4)). A detention hearing then follows within two days (§ 43-21-309).

A youth 13 or older accused of a deadly-weapon offense, or of one punishable by life or death, is charged as an adult (§ 43-21-151). Ring the Sheriff's Office, 601-743-2255, or ask the Circuit Clerk, 601-743-8375, about the Youth Court.

For a youth's defense lawyer, call the state public defender's youth unit at 601-576-4206.

These offices serve the area:

• Kemper County Sheriff's Office, 330 Stennis Industrial Park Road, DeKalb, MS 39328, 601-743-2255 (always staffed). Deputies cover the countryside outside the towns. Its office line is 601-743-4880.
• DeKalb: Town Hall, 94 Bell Street, DeKalb, MS 39328, 601-743-2870. Request the police department's non-emergency number.
• Scooba: Town Hall, 888 Edward E. Nave Drive, Scooba, MS 39358, 662-476-8451. Request the police department's non-emergency number.
• Highway Patrol, covering the county's highways through Troop H of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. District office: 910 Highway 11 and 80 East, Meridian, MS 39301, 601-512-0508.

Request the agency's report number, ask where the person was driven, and then search the Sheriff's roster for the booking.