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Mississippi County
Hancock County, Mississippi
Bay St. Louis's arts community and Hurricane Katrina's ground zero - from Hurricane Katrina's Hancock County devastation (Hancock County bore the full brunt of Hurricane Katrina's landfall on August 29, 2005 - the storm surge that topped 30 feet in some locations obliterated Waveland and devastated Bay St. Louis, destroying virtually every structure within blocks of the coast and killing hundreds - Hancock County's destruction was among the most complete of any American county in any natural disaster) to Bay St. Louis's remarkable resurrection as a Gulf Coast arts community (the rebuilt Bay St. Louis has emerged as one of the most vibrant arts communities on the Gulf Coast - the Old Town arts district, galleries, restaurants, and festivals have made the city's recovery one of the most celebrated community reinventions in Mississippi history).
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Office: Hancock County Emergency Management Agency / Fire Department – coordinates directly with the cities of Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead, and Waveland plus the Sheriff’s Office and volunteer fire departments; confirm current phone via hancockcountyms.gov.
Sheriff: Hancock County Sheriff’s Office – 8450 U.S. Highway 90, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520 | (228) 466-6900 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Ricky Adam.
City Police: Bay St. Louis Police Department – 547 Main Street, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520 | Dispatch (228) 255-9191 | Lobby hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Hancock County E-911 comprises the Telecommunications Dispatching Center, Addressing Office, and E-911 Commission.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-90 and I-10 serve Bay St. Louis, the county seat and largest city, along the Gulf of Mexico and the Louisiana state line, part of the Gulfport-Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Notes: Hancock County was established in 1812 – Mississippi’s southernmost county – named for Founding Father John Hancock. Roughly 46,050-46,870 residents across 474-553 square miles (14% water).
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Hancock County Courthouse – Bay St. Louis, MS 39520.
Notes: Hancock County is genuinely home to NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center, America’s largest rocket engine test facility, established 1961 (originally the Mississippi Test Facility) on the banks of the Pearl River. Every Space Shuttle main engine was test-fired at Stennis, and it continues testing engines for the Space Launch System; the site functions as a self-contained “federal city” hosting over 50 federal, state, academic, and private organizations with a workforce of roughly 5,000. StenniSphere, the 14,000-square-foot visitor center located just north of Bay St. Louis, offers hands-on exhibits including a mock test control center and a real Space Shuttle main engine, plus a 30-foot Lunar Lander used to train Apollo astronauts, displayed near the autograph of Apollo 13 astronaut and Mississippi native Fred Haise; NASA does not currently offer public tours of the working facility itself.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Hancock County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via hancockcountyms.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Biloxi, MS VA medical center; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Bay St. Louis public library address/phone via hancockcountyms.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The John C. Stennis Space Center’s StenniSphere visitor center, the historic downtown of Bay St. Louis, and the county’s Gulf Coast beaches are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine presence of NASA’s largest rocket engine test facility is one of the most nationally significant local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Hancock County Tax Assessor/Collector – 854 Highway 90, Suite A, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520 | (228) 467-0172.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Hancock County Animal Shelter – 7175 Texas Flat Road, Kiln, MS 39556 | (228) 466-4510; serves all of Hancock County including Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead, and Waveland; dog adoption $80, cat adoption $60 (includes spay/neuter, microchip, vaccinations, deworming, vet check); roughly 1,200 animals admitted in 2021.
Friends of the Animal Shelter in Hancock County – PO Box 2274, Bay St. Louis, MS 39521; a 100+ member support organization founded 2002, focused on spay/neuter access and ending euthanasia as a population-control method.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Hancock County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via hancockcountyms.gov.
NOTES: Hancock County is the second county in the fourth batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine presence of NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center, America’s largest rocket engine test facility, is one of the most nationally significant 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 Hancock County
Hancock County is Mississippi’s Hurricane Katrina ground zero and Gulf Coast arts revival county – Waveland and Bay St. Louis were nearly erased by Katrina’s 30-foot storm surge in 2005, and Bay St. Louis’s resurrection as a vibrant arts community is one of the most remarkable recovery stories in American disaster history.
Bay St. Louis (the county seat, population ~13,000) has transformed its Katrina recovery into a cultural identity – the arts district, local restaurants, and community festivals celebrate a city that rebuilt itself with intention.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Hancock County Tax Assessor at 854 Highway 90, Suite E, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520, phone 228-467-4425. MS residential assessed at 10% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Hancock County Chancery Court at 152 Main Street, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520, phone 228-467-5404, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
854 Highway 90, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
(228) 467-5404
CIRCUIT CLERK
854 Highway 90, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
(228) 467-5272
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Hancock County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Hancock 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
Hancock County Chancery Court 152 Main Street, Suite A, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520 (228) 467-5406 Hancock County was founded 1812, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, seated in Bay St. Louis.
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
2081 Main St., Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
(228) 255-9191
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
854 Highway 90, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
(228) 467-5272
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MS Dept of Health — Gulf Coast Region
(228) 467-1520
Hancock Medical Center
hancockmedical.org (Bay St. Louis — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Hancock County Healthcare & Human Services – confirm current phone via hancockcountyms.gov.
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Editorial Trust
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Bay St. Louis
Population: 50,000
Area: 477 sq mi
Established: 1812
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Hancock County residents.
