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Mississippi County
Coahoma County, Mississippi
Clarksdale - the most authentic blues town in America - from Clarksdale's Delta blues epicenter (Clarksdale is where Bessie Smith died, where Sam Cooke was born, where Ike Turner recorded "Rocket 88," where Tennessee Williams spent summers, and where the Delta blues tradition is most authentically preserved - the Ground Zero Blues Club co-owned by Morgan Freeman, the Delta Blues Museum, and Riverside Hotel (where Bessie Smith died) make Clarksdale the essential destination for anyone serious about American music) to the Highway 61/49 crossroads (where Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil - the most mythologized intersection in American music history).
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Office: Coahoma County Emergency Management Agency – 71 Sunflower Ave, Clarksdale, MS 38614; Director Charles Hale; hazard mitigation planning supported by DOT and MEMA Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Grant funding.
Sheriff: Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office – PO Box 1182, 1 Justice Drive, Clarksdale, MS 38614; Sheriff Mario Magsby Sr., sworn in December 28, 2023, took office January 1, 2024.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Coahoma County E-911 serves as the central dispatch center for the county.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-61 and US-49 intersect at Clarksdale, the county seat and largest city, in the Mississippi Delta (Yazoo Delta) region – the legendary “Crossroads,” marked by a giant guitar sign, where blues legend Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the devil for his musical talent.
Notes: Coahoma County was established February 9, 1836, in the fertile Yazoo Delta; the county seat was given exclusively to Clarksdale in 1930. Roughly 19,850-21,390 residents across 552-583 square miles. The Clarksdale Micropolitan Statistical Area was added to the new Memphis-Clarksdale-Forrest City Combined Statistical Area in 2023, population roughly 1.4 million.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Coahoma County Courthouse – 115 First Street, Clarksdale, MS 38614.
Notes: Coahoma County is genuinely, remarkably one of the most significant birthplaces of American music: Clarksdale gave rise to or was home to Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Son House, Ike Turner, Jackie Brenston, Sam Cooke, Junior Parker, and W. C. Handy, with Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, and Charley Patton also closely associated with the city. The Delta Blues Museum, established 1979 and housed since 1999 in the historic 1918 Clarksdale freight depot (a Mississippi Landmark, NRHP-listed), is the state’s oldest music museum, featuring the actual sharecropper cabin where Muddy Waters lived on Stovall Plantation, restored and relocated with help from House of Blues founder Isaac Tigrett. The original WROX (AM) radio building, a Mississippi Blues Trail landmark, also stands in Clarksdale. The Cutrer Mansion, an Italian Renaissance villa, now serves as the Coahoma County Higher Education Center, a partnership between Delta State University and Coahoma Community College (opened 1949).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Coahoma County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via coahomacounty.net. DAV Chapter #63 hosts periodic veteran claims clinics at the Coahoma County Courthouse.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Memphis, TN VA medical center; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Clarksdale public library address/phone via coahomacounty.net.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Delta Blues Museum, the Crossroads (Highways 61/49), the Muddy Waters Cabin, and the Sunflower River Blues Festival (held each August) are the county’s premier and most nationally significant cultural attractions. The Tennessee Williams Festival (October) and Delta Jubilee (June) are other notable annual events.
Notes: The genuine, extraordinary concentration of blues legends connected to Clarksdale is among the most culturally significant sets of local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Coahoma County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via coahomacounty.net.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
CARES (Clarksdale Animal Rescue Effort & Shelter) – a 501(c)(3) no-kill nonprofit serving all of Clarksdale and Coahoma County; founded in response to an ASPCA raid on the former city-run shelter, and has operated the shelter since 2015, relocating to a larger purpose-built facility in 2017; adoption fees $75 (adult dogs), $125 (puppies), $25 (cats/kittens); also runs a Community Pet Food Pantry serving over 700 individuals.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Coahoma County – confirm current contact via coahomacounty.net.
NOTES: Coahoma County is the seventh and final county in the second batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, extraordinary concentration of blues legends connected to Clarksdale is among the most culturally significant sets of 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 Coahoma County
Coahoma County is the blues capital of the world – Clarksdale’s Delta Blues Museum, the Highway 61/49 crossroads, Bessie Smith’s death site at the Riverside Hotel, and Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club make it the single most essential American music heritage destination anywhere.
Clarksdale (the county seat, population ~14,000) draws blues pilgrims from across the globe – the concentration of authentic blues heritage in one small Delta city is unmatched anywhere in American music.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Coahoma County Tax Assessor at 115 First Street, Clarksdale, MS 38614, phone 662-624-3006. MS residential assessed at 10% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Coahoma County Chancery Court at 115 First Street, Clarksdale, MS 38614, phone 662-624-3023, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
115 First St., Clarksdale, MS 38614
(662) 624-3010
CIRCUIT CLERK
115 First St., Clarksdale, MS 38614
(662) 624-3010
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Coahoma County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The original WROX (AM) radio building in Clarksdale, a landmark tied to Delta blues history, stands in the county seat.
Local societies
No dedicated Coahoma 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
Coahoma County Chancery Court 115 1st Street (mail: P.O. Box 98), Clarksdale, MS 38614 (662) 624-3000
Coahoma County was founded February 9, 1836, in the Mississippi Delta, seated in Clarksdale – a birthplace of the Delta blues tradition.
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
115 First St., Clarksdale, MS 38614
(662) 624-3081
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
115 First St., Clarksdale, MS 38614
(662) 624-3010
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Coahoma County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via coahomacounty.net.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Clarksdale
Population: 22,000
Area: 556 sq mi
Established: 1836
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Coahoma County residents.
