Here is the quick way:

1. Open the custody lookup in your browser.
2. Type the family name. Put in a first name only when the list is long.
3. Nothing yet? Try nicknames and other spellings, including a maiden or middle name.
4. When a record opens, jot down all of it: booking date, charge, bond figure and so on.
5. Call the jail through the Sheriff's Office, 662-326-3131, and ask if the record is current.

Treat what you read online as a first peek. Charges and release news come straight from jail staff.

Several things can hide a name:

• Still in processing. Prints, photos and forms may eat a few hours.
• Town police hold. Marks or Lambert officers may hold a person briefly, ahead of the jail taking over.
• Already gone. A relative or bondsman may have paid. A court may also have let the person go home after a written pledge to come back.
• Somewhere else. The arrest may have taken place in a different county, or the person may be in state or federal hands.
• Spelling. Old or shortened versions of a name can throw off a search.
• Age. People under 18 go through Youth Court.

Phone 662-326-3131, explain who you are hunting for, and offer each spelling you know.

The main site is the county jail, which the Sheriff runs for adults arrested in the county. For the building's street address, ask the Sheriff's Office at 662-326-3131. The county website lists a mailing box only, P.O. Box 365, Marks, MS 38646.

Also keep in mind:

• Technical Violation Center, 201 Camp B Road, Lambert, MS 38643, 662-326-2133. State corrections runs it for people sent there for breaking parole, probation or post-release rules. It is not the jail and takes no new arrests.
• Police holding. A town officer may keep someone briefly before booking at the jail. Phone numbers are in the police list below.
• A different county. If the arrest happened elsewhere, find that jail on our Mississippi jail list.

State and federal holds are covered in later answers.

The custody lookup may or may not show mugshots, so do not count on it. To ask for a photo, contact whoever took the person into custody: the Sheriff's Office at 662-326-3131, Marks police at 662-326-3424 or Lambert police at 662-326-3126.

Mississippi's open records law counts an incident report from law enforcement as a record anyone may see. Such a report lists those who were arrested and charged (§ 25-61-12(2)). An agency may bill for copies (§ 25-61-7). We found no law that orders a photo handed over, so the answer can be no.

• Pictures taken by ICE are requested through the agency's FOIA records page.
• The public cannot get federal booking pictures. Only the U.S. Marshals Service may share one, as when it hunts a fugitive.

Sign up for the state's alert system, known as VINE or SAVIN, which Corrections runs. You get word when an offender in a county lockup or in state prison changes status: transferred, released, escaped or returned. A county inmate who later enters state custody stays on your list.

• Search and register at vinelink.com.
• Or phone 888-967-7284. Operators answer all day and night, with Spanish available.

Corrections does not say which jails join in, so never lean on alerts alone. Keep calling 662-326-3131 too.

A judge makes the call. A deputy's arrest in the country normally lands in Justice Court, 275 East Main Street, Marks, MS 38646, 662-326-2104. A town arrest may go before that town's Municipal Court. A judge must hear from a held person inside two days. Jail staff do not pick the amount.

• Judges start from release on a written promise or an appearance bond, and add tougher terms only if needed.
• A bond may be cash, a property bond backed by land in this state, or a bondsman. An agent charges 10 percent or $100 (the larger one) plus $50, and does not refund it. Check any bondsman's license by calling the state insurance department, 601-359-3582.
• After a domestic violence arrest, no bond can be posted until a judge has met with the person.
• Missing a hearing can forfeit the money and bring a new warrant.

Amounts and ways to pay are laid out on our local bail guide. Mississippi's wider rules are explained on the statewide bail laws page.

Ask the jail first at 662-326-3131. The arrest report is a second source, and Marks and Lambert police can explain their own arrests.

Once a case exists, a clerk keeps the file. For a misdemeanor, ring the clerk at Justice Court, 662-326-2104. For a felony, ring the Circuit Clerk, 662-326-8003, in Suite 4 at 220 Chestnut Street, Marks, MS 38646. Get the full legal name and the birthday of the person ready.

Some courts use Mississippi Electronic Courts. Peek at the MEC overview, though not every court takes part. A phone call is surer.

Lawyer rights are explained at the first hearing, and the judge decides if the court will pick one for the person. Be truthful about income, and bring pay stubs or benefit letters.

No county-run defender office is listed for Quitman County. Ask Justice Court, 662-326-2104, or the courthouse, 662-326-2661, who was named. The courthouse stands at 220 Chestnut Street, Marks, MS 38646.

Hiring a private attorney is also possible, and an attorney can ask for a lower bond. Talk about the facts only with that attorney, since jail calls can be recorded.

The Sheriff's Office writes the visitor rules, and we could not verify them. Phone 662-326-3131 before you drive and ask:

• Which hours are set aside for visitors?
• Must I book a slot?
• What ID and minimum age apply?
• What clothing is not allowed?
• Are visitors seated at a table, or on a camera?

Call again that morning, since rules shift fast. For general advice before you go, open our jail visiting page.

An account balance buys store items, soap and sometimes phone time. It never pays a bond or frees anyone. Call 662-326-3131 to learn how deposits work, the limits and which name or number to give.

Skip cash in the mail. If a stranger demands gift cards or a wire, hang up and dial the jail yourself.

Learn the ways to deposit in our money guide. Read about store items in our commissary guide.

The jail decides how contact works. Call 662-326-3131 and ask how your relative can reach you, the cost per call, plus any text messaging or video visiting. Ask if calls are taped. Many are.

Keep calls warm and short on case talk; the details belong with the lawyer.

More help: phone rules for jails and email and texting with inmates.

Before anything goes in the mailbox, phone 662-326-3131. Learn the correct address and whether a booking number is wanted. Also learn if pictures, greeting cards or paperbacks may be sent. The county website shows the Sheriff's mailing address as P.O. Box 365, Marks, MS 38646. Make sure the jail wants inmate letters there.

Address it to their full legal name, and write your return address in the corner. Keep cash out. The usual rules are laid out in our mail guide.

What a person had at arrest stays with the jail. Call 662-326-3131 and ask how and when to claim it, plus whether the owner must sign. Take photo ID. Ask if you may collect items for someone who was freed or moved.

Cash, cards and phones may follow other steps than clothing, so ask about each.

Phone 662-326-3131 right away and ask for health staff or the shift lead. Give the drug name, the dose, the doctor and the condition. The person should put in a sick request from inside, too.

For a life-threatening emergency, dial 911. Fear of a breakdown or of self-harm should be named out loud when you call. A lawyer may also raise health problems with the court.

The Sheriff's Office serves warrants here: 662-326-3131. Call and ask, since no county warrant list was found. You can also view the state's Mississippi Most Wanted page. The Circuit Clerk, 662-326-8003, checks felonies, and the Justice Court clerk checks misdemeanors. A lawyer should review the warrant first. The same lawyer can then work with the issuing judge on a safe surrender. Justice Court is at 275 East Main Street, Marks, MS 38646, 662-326-2104. Bring ID if you go in person.

Hearing dates come from whichever court is handling the case. Keep the person's name and birthday in front of you as you call:

• Justice Court, 275 East Main Street, Marks, MS 38646, 662-326-2104. Misdemeanors and early felony steps.
• Circuit Clerk, 220 Chestnut Street, Suite 4, Marks, MS 38646, 662-326-8003. Felonies after a grand jury indictment.
• City of Marks, P.O. Box 315, Marks, MS 38646, 662-326-3161. Ask for the Municipal Court clerk about city charges.
• Lambert: ask the police at 662-326-3126 which court takes town cases.

Papers handed over at arrest or release name the court. Our court page goes through each stage.

This county's federal cases belong to the court's Oxford Division (Northern District), housed in the Federal Building at 911 Jackson Avenue East, Oxford, MS 38655, 662-234-1971.

1. Early on, a federal judge chooses at a detention hearing between pretrial custody and release (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service holds federal detainees. Its Oxford office, 911 Jackson Avenue, Suite 234, Oxford, MS 38655, 662-513-2300, can say where the person is.
3. Federal case records can be read on PACER.
4. Once the person is sentenced, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where they are.

A detainer is an ICE request, made on Form I-247A. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, which gives ICE time to take custody.

1. ICE handles Mississippi through its field office based in New Orleans.
2. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator, and type the person's name along with a birth country. If the family knows an A-number, that can be used too.
3. If nothing appears, try again later, since transfers take time.
4. Speak with an immigration lawyer quickly.

MDOC, the state corrections agency, receives anyone sentenced to prison at a reception center. Choices are Parchman, the Central Mississippi facility near Pearl, or the South Mississippi facility near Leakesville, picked by the home county. A deputy delivers the person.

• Reception lasts from two weeks to as long as 45 days. Families cannot visit at that stage, and calls are tight.
• The MDOC inmate search covers state inmates. County detainees are not in it.
• Our Mississippi state prisons guide has more.
• The Mississippi State Parole Board handles parole. MDOC probation and parole in Marks is at 275 E. Main Street, Marks, MS 38646, 662-326-8910.

Youth Court, not adult court, usually takes a person under 18. A child is generally not placed in an adult jail. Under Miss. Code § 43-21-303(4), with §§ 43-21-309 and 43-21-307 behind it, a child may be held after day one only on a judge's signed order, and the court owes that child a detention hearing by the 48th hour.

The county court page names no Youth Court office or youth detention center. Call the courthouse, 662-326-2661, at 220 Chestnut Street, Marks, MS 38646, and ask who has the child and the hearing time. The state public defender's youth line is 601-576-4206.

Some teens aged 13 to 17 are tried as adults, for example when the offense could bring a life term or a deadly weapon was used. Ask a lawyer how this works. Oakley Youth Development Center, 2375 Oakley Road, Raymond, MS 39154, can receive a teen after Youth Court orders placement.

The arrest report shows which agency acted. Offices working in the county include:

• Sheriff's Office, P.O. Box 365, Marks, MS 38646, 662-326-3131. Covers rural areas and towns with no police listed.
• Marks Police Department, 340 Pecan Street, Marks, MS 38646, 662-326-3424
• Lambert Police Department, 831 Scott Ave, Lambert, MS 38643, 662-326-3126
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop E, 22000-A Highway 35 North, Batesville, MS 38606, 662-563-6477. Troopers patrol highways here.

The county site shows no police for Crenshaw, Sledge, Vance or Belen, so call the Sheriff about those towns.