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Mississippi County
Choctaw County, Mississippi
Ackerman and Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians heritage - from Choctaw County's deep connection to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (the county bears the name of the Choctaw people who inhabited this region of central Mississippi for centuries before removal, and nearby Neshoba County's Choctaw community maintains a living cultural presence that extends into Choctaw County's identity and history) to the county's rolling central Mississippi terrain (the gently rolling hills and creek drainages of Choctaw County support timber, cattle, and small farm operations across a landscape that retains a distinctly rural and traditional Mississippi character).
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Office: Choctaw County Emergency Management – PO Box 250, Ackerman, MS 39735 | Office (662) 285-9705 | Cell (662) 285-3444 | Fax (662) 285-3600 | Email: [email protected]; Director Brent McKnight.
Sheriff: Choctaw County Sheriff’s Office – 22 E Quinn St / 122 Jailhouse Rd, Ackerman, MS 39735 | (662) 285-6129.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: MS-15 and MS-9 serve Ackerman, the county seat and largest town, in central Mississippi; the Natchez Trace Parkway crosses the western part of the county.
Notes: Choctaw County was founded in 1833, named for the Choctaw people who had long occupied the territory as their homeland. Roughly 8,050-8,246 residents across 418-420 square miles; the Big Black River forms the county’s northern border, flowing southwest into the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg. During the Civil War, Union troops under General Benjamin Grierson raided through the county in December 1864 (the Battle of Egypt Station); as the Confederacy collapsed in spring 1865, local Unionists raised the U.S. flag in Greensboro, then the county seat (now located in neighboring Webster County).
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Choctaw County Courthouse – 22 E. Quinn Street, PO Box 736, Ackerman, MS 39735 | (662) 285-6329.
Notes: Choctaw County is genuinely home to French Camp, one of the most historically rich stops on the entire Natchez Trace Parkway. Louis LeFleur, a man of French descent married to a Choctaw woman, established a trading stand here around 1812, giving the settlement its name; the site became a school in 1822 and remains one today via French Camp Academy, a Christian boarding school founded 1885 on a roughly 900-acre campus, home to the Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium. LeFleur’s son, who took the name Greenwood Leflore, became a Choctaw chief and Mississippi state senator, and is the namesake of both the city of Greenwood and Leflore County. French Camp Historic Village preserves an authentic log-cabin settlement, antebellum home, old graveyard, and museum along the Trace. Five properties are NRHP-listed in Choctaw County, including the Colonel James Drane House (c. 1847) in French Camp and Janet’s Mound.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Choctaw County Veterans Affairs – 583 W Main St, Ackerman, MS 39735; confirm current phone via choctawcountyms.com.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Jackson, MS or Tupelo, MS VA medical center; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Choctaw County Library System – Ackerman Branch, 511 S Louisville St, Ackerman, MS 39735 | (662) 285-6348 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: Mon/Tue/Thu 9 AM-6 PM, Wed 9 AM-4 PM, Fri 9 AM-5 PM, closed Sat-Sun. Weir Branch – 360 Front St, Weir, MS 39772 | (662) 547-6747 | Hours: Mon 1-5 PM, Tue 9 AM-12 PM, closed Wed-Sun.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: French Camp Historic Village, French Camp Academy and the Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium, and the Natchez Trace Parkway corridor are the county’s premier and most nationally significant attractions.
Notes: The genuine Louis LeFleur/Greenwood Leflore story – connecting a Natchez Trace trading post to the naming of an entire Mississippi city and county – is one of the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Choctaw County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via choctawcountyms.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Choctaw County Animal Shelter – 8841 Highway 15, Ackerman, MS 39735 | (662) 285-9006; a volunteer-run nonprofit providing shelter, medical care, and spay/neuter services, funded entirely by donations.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Choctaw County – confirm current contact via choctawcountyms.com.
NOTES: Choctaw County is the third county in the second batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine Louis LeFleur/Greenwood Leflore story at French Camp is one of 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 Choctaw County
Choctaw County is central Mississippi’s Choctaw heritage and timber hill country county – named for the Indigenous people who called this region home, the county’s forested rolling hills support timber and cattle operations while Ackerman serves as the quiet governmental hub for one of Mississippi’s more rural central counties.
Ackerman (the county seat, population ~1,400) is Choctaw County’s governmental and commercial center, providing county services to the surrounding rural communities of central Mississippi.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Choctaw County Assessor at 112 Quinn Street, Ackerman, MS 39735, phone 662-285-6466. MS assessed at percentage of true value by property class.
Courts & Legal
Choctaw County Circuit Court at 112 Quinn Street, Ackerman, MS 39735, phone 662-285-6466, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
103 E. Quinn St., Ackerman, MS 39735
(662) 285-6329
CIRCUIT CLERK
103 E. Quinn St., Ackerman, MS 39735
(662) 285-6329
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Choctaw County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Choctaw 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
Choctaw County Chancery Court 22 E. Quinn Street (mail: P.O. Box 250), Ackerman, MS 39735 (662) 285-6329
Choctaw County is in central Mississippi, seated in Ackerman, named for William K. Ackerman, president of the Illinois Central Railroad.
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 in the county 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
103 E. Quinn St., Ackerman, MS 39735
(662) 285-6260
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
103 E. Quinn St., Ackerman, MS 39735
(662) 285-6329
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MS Dept of Health — North Mississippi
(662) 285-6231
Choctaw County Health Center
(662) 285-6239
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Choctaw County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via choctawcountyms.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Ackerman
Population: 8,000
Area: 418 sq mi
Established: 1833
Tier: 4
Public Records
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