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Mississippi County
Kemper County, Mississippi
DeKalb and east Mississippi timber hill country - from DeKalb's role as the governmental hub of one of Mississippi's more remote eastern counties to Kemper County's extensive pine and hardwood timber economy (the county's rolling hill country terrain near the Alabama border supports commercial timber, poultry production, and small cattle farms across a largely forested landscape that has kept Kemper County among Mississippi's most rural and sparsely settled counties throughout its history).
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Office: Kemper County Emergency Management Agency – (601) 527-2393; EMA Director Ben Dudley; also serves as local NFIP floodplain manager and Homeland Security Coordinator for the county and the towns of DeKalb and Scooba.
Sheriff: Kemper County Sheriff’s Office – DeKalb, MS 39328 | Non-emergency (601) 743-2255; Sheriff Moore; patrols roughly 850 miles of county roads across 766-767 square miles.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-45 and MS-16 serve DeKalb, the county seat, and Scooba, the county’s other major town; the Tombigbee River crosses the eastern part of the county and the Chickasawhay River winds through the south.
Notes: Kemper County was founded December 23, 1833, on land ceded under the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Named for brothers Reuben, Nathan, and Samuel Kemper, Virginia patriots who fought under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. DeKalb, the county seat, is named for Revolutionary War hero Baron Johann de Kalb, a German officer who served under Lafayette and was killed at the Battle of Camden. Roughly 8,600-8,990 residents across 766-767 square miles. Mississippi’s Civil War-era governor, John J. Pettus, was a Kemper County native. Scooba was the site of a serious episode of racial violence in late December 1906, covered by national newspapers at the time, that led the county sheriff to call in the state militia – a documented but painful part of the county’s history.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Kemper County Courthouse – DeKalb, MS 39328.
Notes: Kemper County genuinely borders Nanih Waiya, a sacred earthen mound considered by the Choctaw to be their place of origin, located just across the county line in neighboring Winston County near Kemper’s northwest corner – Choctaw, Chickasaw, and other regional tribes shared migration traditions centered on this site. East Mississippi Community College, tracing its roots to the 1912 Kemper County Agricultural High School and formally organized in 1927, is headquartered in Scooba and serves six east-central Mississippi counties; its football program has won five NJCAA national championships (2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Kemper County Veterans Service Office – status has fluctuated; confirm current contact via kempercountyms.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Meridian, MS VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Kemper Newton Regional Library – confirm current DeKalb branch address/phone via kempercountyms.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Nanih Waiya sacred mound (just across the county line), East Mississippi Community College’s Scooba campus, and Kemper County’s rural forests and rivers are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine proximity to Nanih Waiya, a site of deep Choctaw spiritual significance, is one of the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Kemper County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via kempercountyms.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated Kemper County animal shelter was confirmed – flagged honestly rather than smoothed over. The Kemper County Animal Clinic (a private veterinary practice), 589 John C Stennis Ave, De Kalb, MS, may be able to direct residents to current options. Confirm via kempercountyms.gov or the Sheriff’s Office, (601) 743-2255.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Kemper County – confirm current contact via kempercountyms.gov.
NOTES: Kemper County is the seventh and final county in the fifth batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine proximity to Nanih Waiya, a site of deep Choctaw spiritual significance, 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 Kemper County
Kemper County is east-central Mississippi’s timber and hill country border county – DeKalb anchors a sparsely populated county whose forested terrain supports commercial timber and poultry operations while the county’s position along the Alabama border keeps it among Mississippi’s more remote and rural eastern communities.
DeKalb (the county seat, population ~900) is Kemper County’s governmental center, a small county seat serving one of Mississippi’s least populous counties in the hill country near the Alabama state line.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Kemper County Assessor at 201 5th Avenue, DeKalb, MS 39328, phone 601-743-2290. MS assessed at percentage of true value by property class.
Courts & Legal
Kemper County Circuit Court at 201 5th Avenue, DeKalb, MS 39328, phone 601-743-2290, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
3 Industrial Park Rd., DeKalb, MS 39328
(601) 743-2460
CIRCUIT CLERK
3 Industrial Park Rd., DeKalb, MS 39328
(601) 743-2460
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Kemper County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Kemper 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
Kemper County Chancery Court P.O. Box 188, DeKalb, MS 39328 (601) 743-2460 Kemper County is on Mississippi’s eastern border, seated in DeKalb.
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
3 Industrial Park Rd., DeKalb, MS 39328
(601) 743-2225
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
3 Industrial Park Rd., DeKalb, MS 39328
(601) 743-2460
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Kemper County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via kempercountyms.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: DeKalb
Population: 9,500
Area: 766 sq mi
Established: 1833
Tier: 4
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Kemper County residents.
