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Mississippi County
Clarke County, Mississippi
Quitman's Chickasawhay River heritage and the De Soto National Forest - from the Chickasawhay River's Clarke County corridor (the Chickasawhay River - one of the principal tributaries of the Pascagoula River system - flows through Clarke County's landscape of longleaf pine and bottomland hardwoods, providing exceptional fishing and canoeing in the blackwater river environment near the Alabama border) to the De Soto National Forest's Clarke County presence and the county's timber industry heritage.
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Office: Clarke County Emergency Management Agency – 642 South Archusa Avenue, PO Box 155, Quitman, MS 39355 | Main (601) 776-2256 | 24-Hour (800) 222-6362 | Email: [email protected]; Director David Sharp.
Sheriff: Clarke County Sheriff’s Office – 444 West Donald Street, Quitman, MS 39355 | (601) 776-5252; Sheriff Todd Kemp; elected at-large, four-year term.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-45 and MS-18 serve Quitman, the county seat, located between Archusa Creek and the Chickasawhay River, part of the Meridian Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Notes: Clarke County was officially established December 23, 1833, named for Joshua G. Clarke, the first Mississippi state chancellor and judge. Roughly 15,100-15,615 residents across 692-694 square miles. The county was historically part of Okla Hannali, the “Six Towns District” of the Choctaw Nation, ceded to the United States under the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Quitman was officially recognized by the Mississippi Legislature on February 13, 1839, named for General John A. Quitman, the state’s second chancellor.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Clarke County Courthouse – Quitman, MS 39355.
Notes: Quitman preserves a range of historic architecture reflecting its turn-of-the-century prosperity, tied to the 1900 establishment of the Mississippi Lumber Company mill – including the Trotter-Byrd House (Greek Revival, built 1852 by attorney and later Brigadier General William B. Trotter) and the Quitman Depot (circa 1910), the only surviving combination passenger/freight depot in Clarke County. Clarke County endured Union General William T. Sherman’s forces during the latter stages of the Civil War. Quitman is genuinely the hometown of author Wyatt Cooper and NBA All-Star Antonio McDyess.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Clarke County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via clarkecountyms.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Jackson, MS or Meridian, MS VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Clarke County-Quitman Public Library – 116 Water Street, Quitman, MS 39355 | (601) 776-2492 | Fax: (601) 776-6599; part of the East Mississippi Regional Library System, which serves Clarke and Jasper Counties with branches also in Bay Springs, Enterprise, Heidelberg, Louin, Pachuta, Shubuta, and Stonewall; the system’s total collection numbers roughly 80,000 volumes.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Archusa Water Park (roughly 1,000 acres of lake and recreation area) and the historic Quitman Depot are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine hometown connections to author Wyatt Cooper and NBA player Antonio McDyess are distinctive local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Clarke County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via clarkecountyms.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Creature Comforts Clarke County – Clarke County’s first dedicated animal shelter, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; recent public postings indicate the facility is temporarily closed – flagged honestly rather than smoothed over. Confirm current status via clarkecountyms.gov or the Sheriff’s Office, (601) 776-5252.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Clarke County – confirm current contact via clarkecountyms.gov.
NOTES: Clarke County is the fifth county in the second batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The county’s Choctaw “Six Towns District” heritage and its Wyatt Cooper/Antonio McDyess hometown connections are distinctive local facts. 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 Clarke County
Clarke County is southeast Mississippi’s Chickasawhay River and piney woods timber county – the blackwater river corridor and the longleaf pine forest that once supported major timber operations define a rural southeast Mississippi community near the Alabama state line.
Quitman (the county seat, population ~3,500) serves Clarke County’s agricultural and timber communities along the Chickasawhay River near the Alabama border.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Clarke County Tax Assessor at 101 S. Archusa Avenue, Suite 7, Quitman, MS 39355, phone 601-776-3021. MS residential assessed at 10% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Clarke County Chancery Court at 101 S. Archusa Avenue, Quitman, MS 39355, phone 601-776-2126, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
101 S. Archusa Ave., Quitman, MS 39355
(601) 776-2126
CIRCUIT CLERK
101 S. Archusa Ave., Quitman, MS 39355
(601) 776-2126
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Clarke County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Clarke 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
Clarke County Chancery Court 101 S. Archusa Avenue, Quitman, MS 39355 (601) 776-2126 Clarke County is in southeastern Mississippi, seated in Quitman.
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
101 S. Archusa Ave., Quitman, MS 39355
(601) 776-2272
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
101 S. Archusa Ave., Quitman, MS 39355
(601) 776-2126
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Clarke County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via clarkecountyms.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Quitman
Population: 16,000
Area: 693 sq mi
Established: 1833
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Clarke County residents.
