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Mississippi · Northeast Mississippi · #693
Lee County, Mississippi
In the red clay hill country of northeast Mississippi, Tupelo has built the most complete small-city economy in the state outside the Gulf Coast - a furniture manufacturing hub, the birthplace of Elvis Presley, and a regional healthcare and retail center that has achieved genuine diversification while other Mississippi cities have struggled.
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Office: Lee County Emergency Management – 200 W. Jefferson St, 2nd Floor, Tupelo, MS 38804 | 911 addressing contact (662) 432-2963.
Sheriff: Lee County Sheriff’s Office – 510 N. Commerce Street, Tupelo, MS 38804 | Main (662) 432-2600 | Dispatch (662) 432-2622 | Adult Jail/Corrections (662) 432-2632 | Fax: (662) 841-9044; Sheriff Jim H. Johnson; Information Desk Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM. Operates the Tupelo/Lee County Adult Jail and a Juvenile Detention Center.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Sheriff Harold Ray Presley (served 1993-2001), a distant cousin of Elvis Presley, was known for his aggressive anti-narcotics campaigns; he died in a 2001 shootout with a kidnapping suspect near Tupelo.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-45 and the Natchez Trace Parkway serve Tupelo, the county seat and a major regional commercial hub in northeast Mississippi.
Notes: Lee County was named for Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Lee County Courthouse – Tupelo, MS 38804.
Notes: Lee County is genuinely, world-famously the birthplace of Elvis Presley, born January 8, 1935 in a modest two-room shotgun house built by his father, Vernon Presley, for $180. The Elvis Presley Birthplace & Museum, part of a 15-acre park at 306 Elvis Presley Drive, draws over 50,000-100,000 visitors annually from around the world and includes the restored birth house, a museum built in 1992, the Assembly of God Church the Presley family attended (where Elvis first heard gospel music), and a life-sized bronze “Elvis at 13” statue. The house survived the devastating 1936 F-5 tornado that struck Tupelo. Elvis lived in Tupelo until age 13, when his family moved to Memphis; the site is listed on the Mississippi Blues Trail. Tupelo hosts an annual Tupelo Elvis Festival.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Lee County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via leecountyms.com.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Memphis, TN VA medical center or a Tupelo VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Tupelo public library address/phone via leecountyms.com.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Elvis Presley Birthplace & Museum and 15-acre park are the county’s single most significant tourist attraction, alongside the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Notes: The genuine, world-famous Elvis Presley birthplace is among the most nationally and internationally significant local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Lee County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via leecountyms.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Lee County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control – confirm current contact via leecosheriff.com; the Sheriff’s Office directory lists a dedicated Animal Control division.
Tupelo-Lee Humane Society (TLHS) – Tupelo, MS; mission to promote humane treatment, prevent cruelty, provide education, and end pet overpopulation.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Lee County – confirm current contact via leecountyms.com.
NOTES: Lee County is the sixth county in the sixth batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, world-famous Elvis Presley birthplace is among the most nationally and internationally 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 Lee County
Lee County’s Tupelo is Mississippi’s most economically successful small city – a statement that requires context but holds up under examination. The city has diversified its manufacturing base into furniture (the Furniture City title reflects genuine concentration of furniture manufacturing operations), automotive parts (Toyota’s Mississippi plant in adjacent Union County draws suppliers), and healthcare (North Mississippi Medical Center is the largest non-metropolitan hospital in the United States). This diversification has given Tupelo economic resilience that most Mississippi communities lack.
Elvis Presley’s two-room birthplace in Tupelo – the shotgun house where he was born in 1935 – is Mississippi’s most-visited heritage site, drawing visitors who come specifically for the pilgrimage to the origins of the most consequential performer in American popular music history. The Elvis Presley Birthplace Museum, the chapel on the grounds, and the surrounding Presley heritage provide a tourism economy that the city has developed thoughtfully.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Mississippi assesses residential property at 10% of true value. Property owners may appeal to the Board of Equalization. Mississippi offers a homestead exemption of $300 in tax credit for owner-occupied primary residences. Mississippi has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
Lee County Chancery Court (Probate Division): 200 Jefferson Street, Tupelo, MS 38804 | (662) 841-9100. The Chancery Court handles estate administration, guardianship, and property records in Mississippi.
Senior Services
Northeast Mississippi Area Agency on Aging
P.O. Box 600, Booneville, MS 38829
Phone: (662) 728-6248
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
200 W. Jefferson St., Tupelo, MS 38801
(662) 432-2100
CIRCUIT CLERK
200 W. Jefferson St., Tupelo, MS 38801
(662) 432-2100
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Lee County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Lee 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
Lee County Chancery Court P.O. Box 7127, Tupelo, MS 38802 (662) 432-2100
Lee County was founded October 26, 1866, named for General Robert E. Lee, in northeastern Mississippi, seated in Tupelo.
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
1000 Cliff Gookin Blvd., Tupelo, MS 38801
(662) 841-9061
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
200 W. Jefferson St., Tupelo, MS 38801
(662) 432-2100
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MS Dept of Health — Northeast Region
(662) 841-9010
North Mississippi Medical Center
nmhs.net (Tupelo — major regional hospital; Level II Trauma; flagship of North Mississippi Health Services; one of the largest non-metropolitan hospitals in America)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Lee County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via leecountyms.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Tupelo
Population: 85,000
Area: 451 sq mi
Established: 1866
Tier: 3
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Lee County facilities via Amazon.
