The Sheriff's website sends families to Mississippi's VINE service for jail lookups. Follow these steps:

1. Open the jail search in any web browser.
2. Search the surname first. When many names come up, put in a given name as well.
3. Read the custody status beside any name that fits.
4. Save any numbers or dates on the page, since staff can use them to find the file.
5. Phone the jail to learn the charge, the bond and release plans, since a lookup may leave those out.

VINE also has a toll-free line, 888-967-7284, that works every hour of every day in English and Spanish. For news about one person, though, the jail at 662-728-2016 knows the most.

An empty result does not always mean freedom. Think about these causes:

• Paperwork still moving. The first hours after an arrest are busy, and the entry may come later.
• City custody. City officers may keep someone for a little while before the ride to the county jail.
• Bonded out. A bond could have been posted already, or a judge could have ordered release.
• Taken elsewhere. Some people are moved to another county's jail, a regional jail or a state site.
• Another spelling. Typos happen when names are keyed in. Try initials, a nickname or an old last name.
• A child. Minors are generally sent away from the adult jail.

The jail's number is 662-728-2016. The Sheriff's main line, 662-728-6232, has someone on it all night as well as all day.

These are the places to ask about for a county arrest:

• Prentiss County Jail, 1901-B East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-2016. Built in 1996, it has space for around 70 people, county and state inmates together.
• Joint State/County Inmate Work Center. A sentenced state inmate may be placed here when they have two years or less left, a clean record for violent and sex crimes, and low risk. Up to 18 can be housed. They do jobs at the courthouse, the Agricultural Center and the Justice Center. A new arrest does not start here. If you think a sentenced person is in this program, ask the jail at the number above.
• Booneville Police Department, 203 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-5611. Try them when a city officer made the arrest and the person is not on the jail search yet.

To confirm the exact spot, the Sheriff's Office will tell you at 662-728-6232.

The search runs on VINE, and we could not confirm that it carries mugshots. Ask the jail what it shows before you plan around a photo.

In Mississippi, a police incident report is a public record. It has to list each person arrested and charged. That rule is in subsection (2) of section 25-61-12 of the state code. An agency may bill for the copies. Nothing we read in the records law orders a booking photo released. Your question for the arresting agency is simple: do you release booking photos?

• Sheriff's Office, 1901-B East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-6232
• Booneville Police Department, 203 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-5611
• You can ask ICE for photos it holds through its online records request page.
• Most federal mugshots are kept from the public. One exception: the U.S. Marshals Service can release a photo when, for example, it is looking for a fugitive on the run.

Yes, through VINE, which Mississippi calls SAVIN and runs with the Department of Corrections. The system notifies you if an offender is transferred, released, flees or is brought back in. A sign-up also follows a county inmate who is later moved to state prison.

• Register at VINELink or phone 888-967-7284.
• Only the jail can confirm if it takes part, so ask it, at 662-728-2016, about releases too.

Victims of crime hold rights in Mississippi's constitution, such as fair treatment, news about the case and a voice at public hearings where the law permits (art. 3, sec. 26A).

The court rules give two days to bring an arrested person before a judge (Rule 5.1). For arrests outside city limits, that is usually Justice Court, 1901-C East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-8696. A city arrest goes to the city's court, and Booneville City Hall, 203 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-5601, can steer you to its clerk. The judge opens by naming the charge, then tells the person that they can stay quiet and call on a lawyer, then decides how release will work.

• Release starts as a simple promise to come back, or as a bond. Tighter terms come only when that would not be enough.
• A cash deposit bond takes the larger of ten percent of the bond or $250, and only some people qualify. The other two routes are a bond backed by sworn land or a house, and a licensed bondsman.
• Bondsmen ask for ten percent of the bail, never under $100 (it is fifteen percent when the charge is capital or the person lives out of state), and add a $50 handling fee. You do not get this money back.
• A misdemeanor with a one-year limit has a guide of $500 to $2,000, and a felony with a ten-year limit has $5,000 to $50,000. Judges may set either higher or lower.
• After a domestic violence arrest, nobody may bail the person out before seeing a judge.
• If two days pass with no judge and the charge is bailable, release comes on the lowest scheduled bond.

Nearly everyone is bailable before trial, though a judge can refuse bail on the gravest charges. See our bail page for more, and the Mississippi bail laws page for the state's rules.

The jail, at 662-728-2016, can read you the booked charge once you give a name and date of birth. Charges may change within days.

The incident report from the arresting agency lists the charge too, and a copy can be requested. After filing, the court clerk has the record:

• Misdemeanors: the Justice Court clerk, 1901-C East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-8696
• Felonies: the Circuit Clerk, 101 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-4611
• Prosecutors: the County Prosecuting Attorney, PO Box 430, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-720-1141, and the District Attorney for the First Circuit District, PO Box 7237, Tupelo, MS 38802, 662-432-2800

Participating courts appear on Mississippi Electronic Courts after one login. A clerk can tell you if yours is among them.

Whether a person gets appointed counsel is settled by the first appearance (Rule 7). Anyone who cannot afford a lawyer should tell the judge right then. Prentiss uses contract public defenders, so ask the court who is on duty.

• Justice Court, 1901-C East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-8696, can tell you about the first appearance.
• After a grand jury acts on a felony, the Circuit Clerk, 101 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-4611, is the contact.

Hiring a private attorney is another choice. A motion filed by counsel is how a bond gets reviewed (Rule 8.5). Keep case details off jail phones and tell them to your lawyer.

The jail makes its own visiting rules, so phone 662-728-2016 before heading over. Questions worth asking:

• On which days and at what times do visits happen?
• Is a reservation needed?
• Which ID is accepted?
• May kids come along, and from what age?
• What clothing is fine, and what should stay in the car?
• Can visits happen by video, either at the jail or from home?

Visits may be canceled with little warning, so confirm again on the day. Attorneys arrange their own meetings. Our visiting guide adds helpful hints.

Commissary money covers extras such as snacks and hygiene items. The jail page on the Sheriff's website pictures a kiosk for adding funds. Ask at 662-728-2016 how the kiosk works, when it is open and what it charges. Know the person's full name first.

These funds are not bond money and will not free anyone. Never wire money to a stranger who claims it covers bond. Want more? Our money guide compares ways to deposit, and the commissary guide covers the store list.

The jail has an inmate phone service. Ask at 662-728-2016 how families set up calling, each call's cost, and if the jail permits texting or video. Ask if recordings are made. Plan on yes, and save the case itself for the attorney.

For background, read about phone service in jails and about email and text messaging for inmates.

Before sending anything, call 662-728-2016. Get the exact way to write the address, plus the number that should go beside the name. Learn which items are accepted, such as photographs, greeting cards or paperbacks.

Address it to the person's complete legal name and add a return address. Use plain paper. Do not enclose cash. For more on the rules, see our mail guide.

Anything the person brought in stays with the jail until they go home. Before you drop off or pick up items, ring 662-728-2016 and ask if a signed form is required and what time to come.

Take a government photo ID to the Sheriff's Office, 1901-B East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829. Its regular hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Tell the jail at 662-728-2016 exactly what is wrong. Have the drug name, strength and the prescriber's contact handy. Urge the person to ask staff how to submit a medical request.

In a true emergency, use 911. If you worry about their mental health, tell the staff in your opening words.

Sheriff's deputies carry out warrants outside city limits. Reach them at 662-728-6232. The Sheriff keeps a Most Wanted page, and the state has its own Most Wanted list. You can also phone and ask. To check court records, try the Justice Court clerk, 1901-C East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-8696, or the Circuit Clerk, 101 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-4611, with the person's whole name and birthday in hand. If one turns up, hire or call a lawyer before you do anything. The lawyer and the issuing court can then arrange a surrender date.

Every court runs its own calendar. Phone the one that holds the case:

• Justice Court, 1901-C East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-8696: county misdemeanors and first steps in felonies, such as setting bond.
• Circuit Clerk, 101 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-4611: felonies after an indictment. Prentiss belongs to the First Circuit Court District.
• Booneville City Hall, 203 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-5601: city court matters.

Under Rule 9, the goal is a trial about 270 days after arraignment. The court can stretch that when something real gets in the way. You may also look on Mississippi Electronic Courts. Our court guide goes deeper on how a case moves along.

Aberdeen is the federal courthouse city for this county. The Aberdeen Division belongs to the Northern District of Mississippi, and its building is the Thomas G. Abernethy Federal Building, 301 West Commerce Street, Aberdeen, MS 39730, 662-234-1971.

1. A detention hearing comes first, where a federal judge picks jail or release until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service keeps an Aberdeen office in the same building, 662-369-4892. Ask it where a federal detainee is being kept.
3. To see where a sentenced federal prisoner went, search the locator run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Here is the order of events in most cases:

1. A detainer comes first. ICE sends the jail a paper, Form I-247A, that lists the person agents wish to collect.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep the person for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. After that, ICE picks the person up. For Mississippi, the office in charge is ICE's New Orleans Field Office.
4. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Type in the person's name and birth country, or use their A-number. If nothing shows, the field office listed there can help.

A judge's prison sentence leads first to an intake center, where staff review the person and decide where they will serve. The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) uses three: Parchman (the Mississippi State Penitentiary), Pearl (Central Mississippi Correctional Facility) and Leakesville (South Mississippi Correctional Facility). Where the case began decides which one. County deputies make the drive.

• This review runs between two weeks and 45 days. In that stretch there are no visits and only limited calls.
• The Mississippi State Parole Board, not the prison, decides on parole.
• The MDOC inmate search lists state prisoners, never county jail detainees.
• For visits and mail, see our Mississippi state prisons guide.

A child's case usually goes to Youth Court instead of adult court. Call the Youth Court, 105 South Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-9453, to learn the child's location and when to appear.

• A child 13 or older who faces a charge with a weapon or a possible life or death sentence is moved out of Youth Court into adult court (§ 43-21-151).
• Under Miss. Code §§ 43-21-303 to 43-21-309, a judge must order any hold that lasts beyond one day, and the hearing on detention must be held by day two.
• Section 43-21-315 bars placing a child in an adult jail in most cases.
• Oakley Youth Development Center, 2375 Oakley Road, Raymond, MS 39154, is where the state can send youth after a court commits them.

A youth defense line at the Office of State Public Defender is 601-576-4206.

Phone the agency that made the arrest to ask about its report and any photo.

• Prentiss County Sheriff's Office, 1901-B East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-6232, staffed all day and night. Deputies cover the land outside the towns. For Baldwyn, Wheeler, Jumpertown, Marietta, Thrasher and other small places, call this line and ask which agency made the arrest.
• Booneville Police Department, 203 North Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, 662-728-5611, the main number.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop F, 1103 Bratton Road, New Albany, MS 38652, 662-486-1995, which covers this county.

For an emergency, dial 911.