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Mississippi County
Chickasaw County, Mississippi
The Chickasaw Nation's Mississippi homeland and the Battle of Okolona - from the Chickasaw homeland heritage (Chickasaw County preserves the name of the Chickasaw Nation whose ancestral territory covered much of north Mississippi before the 1832 Treaty of Pontotoc Creek - the county's name is both a reminder of the people displaced from this landscape and an acknowledgment of their deep connection to the north Mississippi hills) to the Battle of Okolona (the February 22, 1864 cavalry engagement near Okolona - a Confederate victory under General Nathan Bedford Forrest against Union General William Sooy Smith's expedition - is one of the significant Civil War cavalry battles in the western theater).
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Office: Chickasaw County Emergency Management – One Pinson Square, Houston, MS 38851 | Office (662) 448-1012 | Cell (662) 456-6237 | Fax (662) 456-2554 | Email: [email protected]; Director Linda Griffin.
Sheriff: Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office – headquartered in Houston, MS 38851; Sheriff James Meyers, (662) 542-9351.
City Police: Houston Police Department – 120 East Madison Street, Houston, MS 38851 | (662) 456-2328. Okolona Police Department – 106 East Main Street, Okolona, MS 38860 | (662) 447-5464.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Chickasaw County has TWO county seats – Houston (1st Judicial District) and Okolona (2nd Judicial District), a division enacted by the legislature in 1877.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: MS-8 and MS-9 serve Houston, the county’s largest city; the Natchez Trace Parkway crosses the county east to west.
Notes: Chickasaw County was established February 9, 1836, named for the Chickasaw people, following land cession under the 1831 Treaty of Pontotoc. Roughly 16,730-17,106 residents across 502-504 square miles, traversed by the Yalobusha and Tombigbee Rivers. Houston, organized in 1837, was named for Sam Houston – the Texas Revolution leader – at the request of Houston’s childhood friend Joel Pinson, who donated the townsite land on that condition. Okolona, established in 1845 and originally called Rose Hill before a naming conflict forced a change, takes its name from Chickasaw herdsman “Oka-laua.” Houlka, an old Chickasaw village site, is considered the county’s oldest community.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Chickasaw County Courthouse, 1st District – 1 Pinson Square, Houston, MS 38851 | (662) 456-2531 | Fax: (662) 456-5295. 2nd District – 234 W. Main St, Okolona, MS 38860 | (662) 447-2092 | Fax: (662) 447-5024.
Notes: The Chickasaw County Courthouse in Houston was built 1909-1910, the county’s third courthouse building, designed by architect Ruben Harrison Hunt and formerly owned by the Masonic Lodge (donated to the county in 2022); it is a designated Mississippi Landmark and contributing property to the Houston Historic District. Houston is also home to the first Carnegie Library built in Mississippi, constructed 1909. The Bynum Mounds and Village Site, near Houston, preserves evidence of the region’s earliest documented culture, belonging to the Paleo-Indian Hopewell people – predating the Chickasaw occupation by many centuries.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Chickasaw County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via chickasawcoms.com.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Tupelo, MS or Jackson, MS VA medical center; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Houston and Okolona public library addresses/phone via chickasawcoms.com; Houston’s Carnegie Library (1909) was Mississippi’s first.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Bynum Mounds and Village Site, the Chickasaw Wildlife Management Area, Enid Lake, and the Natchez Trace Parkway are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Sam Houston naming connection and the ancient Bynum Mounds Hopewell site are among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Chickasaw County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via chickasawcoms.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
C.H.A.S.E. (Chickasaw Houston Animal Shelter and Education) – a foster-based nonprofit serving all of Chickasaw County while it works toward a permanent facility; website: chickasawanimalshelter.org; offers resources on vaccines, spay/neuter, behavior training, nutrition, and veterinary care.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Chickasaw County – confirm current contact via chickasawcoms.com.
NOTES: Chickasaw County is the second county in the second batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine Sam Houston naming connection and the ancient Bynum Mounds Hopewell site are among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Chickasaw County
Chickasaw County is the Chickasaw Nation’s Mississippi homeland – the county’s name honors the people whose ancestral territory covered north Mississippi before the 1832 removal, and the Battle of Okolona adds a significant Civil War cavalry engagement to the county’s historical record.
Houston (the county seat, population ~3,500) and Okolona (population ~2,600) serve Chickasaw County’s agricultural and manufacturing communities in the north-central Mississippi hills.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Chickasaw County Tax Assessor at 1 Pinson Square, Suite 6, Houston, MS 38851, phone 662-456-2513. MS residential assessed at 10% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Chickasaw County Chancery Court at 1 Pinson Square, Houston, MS 38851, phone 662-456-2513, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
1 Pinson Square, Houston, MS 38851
(662) 456-2513
CIRCUIT CLERK
1 Pinson Square, Houston, MS 38851
(662) 456-2513
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Chickasaw County Chancery Court, 1st District (Houston) and 2nd District (Okolona) – probate case files split by district; see Probate section above.
The 1909-10 Chickasaw County Courthouse in Houston, a Mississippi Landmark, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Chickasaw County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Chickasaw County Chancery Court – TWO JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
Chickasaw County is one of several Mississippi counties split into two judicial districts, each with its own courthouse and Chancery Clerk’s office. File in whichever district covers the area where the decedent lived.
1st District (Houston): 1 Pinson Square Rd., Houston, MS 38851, (662) 456-2513
2nd District (Okolona): 234 W. Main Street, Room 201, Okolona, MS 38860, (662) 447-2092
Chickasaw County is in northeastern Mississippi, with dual county seats – Houston and Okolona. The 1909-10 Chickasaw County Courthouse in Houston is a Mississippi Landmark and contributing property to the Houston Historic District; there is a separate Chickasaw County Courthouse in Okolona.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Mississippi has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code and instead follows its own statutory framework under Miss. Code Ann. Title 91, Chapter 7. Mississippi’s small-estate threshold, at $75,000, is one of the lowest in the country, so most estates end up needing at least some court involvement.
Small Estate Affidavit (Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-322) – personal property only, up to $75,000 (excluding liens and encumbrances). A 30-day waiting period after death applies. The affidavit is presented directly to whoever holds the property (a bank, for instance); that party is not required to investigate the truth of the affidavit and is protected from liability once it complies.
Muniment of Title (Miss. Code Ann. § 91-5-35) – a limited proceeding to transfer real property named in a will, without full administration, when the estate’s non-real-estate assets are $75,000 or less and all debts (including taxes) have been paid. A petition is still filed with the Chancery Court to declare the will valid; the will and court order are then recorded in the land records.
Formal Administration – required for most estates with real property beyond the muniment-of-title threshold or significant liquid assets. The Chancery Judge reviews the petition, the will (if any), and supporting documents before issuing Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration appointing the personal representative.
Step 2: filing for probate
File a petition with the Chancery Court district covering the area where the decedent was domiciled.
The personal representative inventories assets and notifies creditors; Mississippi’s creditor claim period runs 90 days (Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-145).
Claims and disputes are adjudicated by the Chancery Court if contested.
Once debts are settled and the creditor period closes, the estate can be distributed and closed.
What it costs
Costs are the Chancery Clerk’s per-county filing fee (built on the statewide base under Miss. Code § 25-7-9), plus recording fees and publication costs.
Mississippi has no state estate tax or inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could separately apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
1 Pinson Square, Houston, MS 38851
(662) 456-3241
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
1 Pinson Square, Houston, MS 38851
(662) 456-2513
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Chickasaw County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via chickasawcoms.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Houston
Population: 17,000
Area: 502 sq mi
Established: 1836
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Chickasaw County residents.
