These steps work from a phone screen or a desktop.

1. Open the county inmate search page.
2. Key in the name. A short spelling, a nickname or a maiden name can turn up a record the first try missed.
3. Look at what the entry says about custody, and jot down any ID number you see.
4. Phone the jail at 662-345-6567 for the charge, the bond and the unit where the person sleeps.

Bring both the legal name and the birthday to the call. Staff match records faster that way.

No hit does not mean the person went home. Think through the likely causes:

• Booking is unfinished. The entry has yet to be created.
• City lockup first. Officers in town may keep a person at their station before any transfer.
• Bonded out. A judge's order or a bondsman's payment can end a stay fast.
• Another site. Some people sit in a neighboring county's cell, or in a state, federal or immigration bed.
• Typos. Swap in other spellings.

Only the jail can settle it, at 662-345-6567. After a town arrest, learn the name of the arresting agency and phone it too. The final question here lists contacts.

Begin with the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, 19351 US Highway 49 North, Tutwiler, MS 38963, 662-345-6567. Tutwiler is its own town, apart from the courthouse towns of Charleston and Sumner, so plan the drive.

• Type. Multi-level security, with schooling, addiction treatment, trade training and life-skills classes.
• Population. Its own family sheet names county jail inmates, U.S. Marshals detainees, immigration detainees and state inmates.
• Men or women. Ask the jail which unit applies.

Families sometimes hear about holding cells near the two courthouses. Check with the jail before any long drive. For an arrest across the county line, look up that county on JE's Mississippi jail directory.

Whether the county search carries a mugshot is a question for the jail. To ask about a photo, call 662-345-6567 and learn if one can be released.

Under the state's open records act (found at Mississippi Code section 25-61-1 and following), an incident report from police is public and lists every person arrested and charged, as section 25-61-12(2) reads with section 25-61-3. Copy costs may be billed under section 25-61-7. The law says nothing that forces a booking photo out the door, so direct the request to the arresting agency.

• Photos held by immigration agents can be requested with the ICE FOIA form.
• Federal agencies usually keep the booking photos they take private. One exception: the U.S. Marshals Service may share a picture of someone on the run.

There is. Mississippi runs SAVIN, a notice service built on VINE and managed by the state corrections department. Notices cover county and state offenders alike. A release, a move to another site, an escape or a return behind bars sends one. Should a county inmate head to a state prison down the road, the registration follows.

• Look up the name and register at VINELink.
• Or phone 888-967-7284, which picks up around the clock and offers both English and Spanish.

Since you cannot count on every jail feeding that system, dial 662-345-6567 from time to time as well.

Anyone held after an arrest must appear before a judge promptly, with a hard limit of two days. Arrests out in the county usually go before Justice Court. Arrests made by town police go before the town's Municipal Court. Before the judge, the person is told the charge, is reminded of the right to counsel and silence, and learns what it takes to be freed. Jail staff never choose the sum.

• Default. Judges start from a promise to appear in writing, or an appearance bond, and move off that only after finding flight risk or danger.
• Cash deposit. The clerk holds the larger of $250 or a tenth of the bond amount. It does not suit anyone with an earlier conviction for a crime carrying over a year.
• Property. A sworn affidavit pledging Mississippi real estate.
• Bondsman. Pay 10 percent of the bail or $100 (the larger one) plus a $50 charge, with no refund. The Mississippi Insurance Department licenses bondsmen, 601-359-3582.

No judge within two days? Anyone who may post bail goes home on the lowest scheduled bond. See the bail page for this county, plus the state bail laws page.

The booking charge comes from the jail, at 662-345-6567. Staff can also say which agency made the arrest.

Serious crimes move to a grand jury and, if indicted, to Circuit Court. Reach the First District at 1 Court Square, Charleston, MS 38921, 662-647-8758, or the Second District at 100 N Court Street, Sumner, MS 38957, 662-375-8515. Supply the legal name and birthday, then find out which court has the file and get the case number.

The state's electronic docket system, MEC, covers courts that have joined it and uses one login. Details are on the MEC overview.

Someone who can't pay a private attorney can ask the court for a free one. Under Rule 7 of the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure, the court rules on this no later than the first hearing before a judge. A short income form may be part of it.

• Speak up at the hearing and ask for the request to be put on record.
• A paid attorney is always an option for relatives, and the hire can come at any stage.
• For who handles appointed cases, phone a circuit courthouse: 662-647-8758 in Charleston, or 662-375-8515 in Sumner.

Cutting a bond takes a motion from the defense lawyer (Rule 8.5). The state public defender's Jackson office, 601-576-4290, mostly argues felony appeals, so it will not take a new trial case from a family.

The details below come from the facility's family sheet, which warns that it may change. County jail inmates get non-contact visits on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Ring 662-345-6567 to confirm. The sheet asks for a call one week ahead to book.

• You must be on the inmate's approved visitor list.
• Grown visitors show a state photo ID.
• Three people at most per non-contact visit, kids counted.
• A dress code applies, so ask before you pick an outfit.
• A clear bag with up to $30 in loose quarters may come in.

Our visiting guide adds general advice. Visits take place at 19351 US Highway 49 North, Tutwiler, MS 38963.

Funds cover snacks, soap and call time. The facility's web page links forms for a Western Union transfer and for a lockbox. Phone 662-345-6567 to learn which fits a county inmate and what caps apply.

Keep the full name and ID number close. Read our money guide for ways to add funds, and our commissary guide for what those funds buy. Never slip cash into the mail.

The page also points families to the AccessCatalog site for packages, so ask whether county inmates can receive them.

The jail picks the rules for outside contact. Call 662-345-6567 and learn the phone company, the price of a call, and whether text or video can be used. Also ask if anyone listens in or records.

Details about the case belong with your lawyer. Two more pages go deeper: our calling guide and our guide to jail messaging.

For a family crisis, use the main line and say it is urgent. Give the name and ID number.

The facility's family sheet wants three lines above the street address: the inmate's name, the ID number and the housing location. Then write:

Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility
19351 U.S. Highway 49 North
Tutwiler, MS 38963

Each letter goes to one person. Phone 662-345-6567 to ask about cards, photos and books. Use plain paper, put your return address on the corner and leave out cash. Our mail guide gives common rules.

What an inmate carried in stays in storage until release or transfer. To drop off clothes or pick something up, call 662-345-6567 beforehand and learn the property rules. Learn whether the inmate must sign off first. A photo ID goes with you to 19351 US Highway 49 North, Tutwiler, MS 38963.

On release day, ask the jail how cash and belongings are handed back.

Phone the jail right away at 662-345-6567. Read out the drug's name and dose, and the name of the prescribing doctor. If the person is in withdrawal or in a mental health crisis, say that in the first sentence.

Your loved one should file a written request for care and ask to see the nurse or doctor. If life is at risk, dial 911.

The Sheriff's Office deputies serve county warrants. Phone the jail, 662-345-6567, and ask for the Sheriff's number. No single statewide warrant lookup exists, though Mississippi's Most Wanted shows major cases. For felony papers, the circuit clerks can check: First District, 1 Court Square, Charleston, MS 38921, 662-647-8758; Second District, 100 N Court Street, Sumner, MS 38957, 662-375-8515. Ask which clerk keeps misdemeanor files. Clearing a warrant starts with a talk with a lawyer. After that, phone the clerk of the court behind the warrant and ask about giving yourself up.

Whichever court holds the case controls the calendar. A county arrest generally starts in Justice Court. A town arrest starts in that town's Municipal Court. A felony reaches Circuit Court once a grand jury indicts.

• Circuit Court, First District: 1 Court Square, Charleston, MS 38921, 662-647-8758, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Circuit Court, Second District: 100 N Court Street, Sumner, MS 38957, 662-375-8515, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Justice and Municipal Courts: have a circuit clerk or the jail point you to the right office.

Both courthouses appear on the circuit court info page. Each stage is described in our court guide. A trial is supposed to begin 270 days or sooner after arraignment, with exceptions when a judge finds a good reason to wait.

Cases arising here go before a federal judge in Oxford, in the northern half of the state. The clerk's office is in the Federal Building, 911 Jackson Avenue East, Oxford, MS 38655, 662-234-1971.

1. A detention hearing lets a federal judge choose between release and custody until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service holds people awaiting trial. Since the Tutwiler facility lists Marshals detainees on its family sheet, ask the jail if your person is there. The Marshals' district office is at 911 Jackson Avenue, Suite 234, Oxford, MS 38655, 662-513-2300.
3. Once a federal sentence starts, the Bureau of Prisons online locator accepts either the name or the register number.

Here is the usual order of events:

1. Paper one is the detainer. It is written on Form I-247A, and ICE delivers it to the jail.
2. The rule at 8 CFR 287.7(d) lets the jail keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. ICE collects the person and transfers them.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator; it wants a name with the birth country, or an A-number alone.

For Mississippi, ICE's enforcement work runs out of its New Orleans Field Office. The Tutwiler facility's family sheet also sets visiting days for ICE detainees, so someone may be held at 19351 US Highway 49 North, Tutwiler, MS 38963. Call 662-345-6567 to check.

Prison begins with a sorting period. The Mississippi Department of Corrections sends each person to one of three intake prisons, in the north, center or south, based on the home county. Classification can run as long as 45 days, and sometimes only two weeks. No visitors are allowed in that window, and phone use is limited. Sheriff's deputies handle the transport.

• Run a name through the state corrections inmate search. Anyone held by a county will not be listed, since the tool covers state inmates alone.
• JE keeps a page on Mississippi state prisons with visiting and mail details.
• Parole is a call for the State Parole Board, which is its own agency.

Nearly all minors are handled in Youth Court. A judge's order must back any hold on a child that goes past a day, and a detention hearing must happen before the second day ends (time limits: Mississippi Code section 43-21-303; hearing rules: 43-21-309 and 43-21-307). As a rule, a child may not be put in an adult jail (section 43-21-315).

Some cases skip Youth Court. Adult court takes over when a child of 13 or more faces a charge that may bring life in prison or death, or whenever a deadly weapon came into play (section 43-21-151). A Youth Court judge can also transfer a case to adult court, under section 43-21-157.

• Location of a held child: phone a circuit courthouse, 662-647-8758 in Charleston or 662-375-8515 in Sumner, and ask for Youth Court.
• A committed youth may end up at Oakley Youth Development Center, 2375 Oakley Road, Raymond, MS 39154.
• The public defender's youth team answers at 601-576-4206.

Start with the jail, which can name the arresting agency. Then use this list:

• Sheriff's Office and jail: ask at 662-345-6567, 19351 US Highway 49 North, Tutwiler, MS 38963. Deputies cover the county outside town limits.
• Town departments: places like Charleston, Sumner and Tutwiler might run their own police. Ask the jail or the town hall which one acted, then use that department's non-emergency number.
• Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop E: 22000-A Highway 35 North, Batesville, MS 38606, 662-563-6477. This troop serves the county's state highways.