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Mississippi County
Marion County, Mississippi
Columbia's Columbia Theatre and the Pearl River corridor - from the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts (the restored 1938 Art Deco theater in Columbia - one of Mississippi's finest examples of historic theater preservation - now serves as a regional performing arts venue bringing cultural programming to south-central Mississippi) to the Pearl River's Marion County recreational corridor (the Pearl River flowing through Marion County provides fishing, canoeing, and wildlife habitat in the piney woods landscape of south-central Mississippi) and Columbia's position as the hub for the surrounding rural communities.
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Roads: US-98 and MS-13 serve Columbia, the county seat, located roughly halfway between the Gulf Coast/New Orleans to the south and Jackson to the north, in the geographical center of South Mississippi.
Notes: Marion County was founded in 1811, one of Mississippi’s older counties, named for American Revolutionary War guerrilla leader Francis Marion, “the Swamp Fox.” Roughly 24,000-24,440 residents across 542-549 square miles.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Marion County Courthouse – Courthouse Square, Columbia, MS 39429.
Notes: The Marion County Historical Society, established 1962, is a private nonprofit dedicated to preserving county history. The Columbia-Marion County Airport and Marion County Water Park serve residents; the Mississippi Department of Human Services historically operated the Columbia Training School (a youth services facility) in the unincorporated area of the county.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Marion County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via marioncountyms.com.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Hattiesburg, MS or Gulfport, MS VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Marion County Library – confirm current Columbia branch address/phone via marioncountyms.com.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Marion County Water Park and the Columbia-Marion County Airport are among the county’s community recreation resources.
Notes: The county’s central location in South Mississippi, midway between the Gulf Coast/New Orleans and Jackson, is a defining geographic characteristic.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Marion County Tax Assessor/Collector – Sheriff’s Office also handles appraisal notices per recent county communications; confirm current contact via marioncountyms.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Marion County Animal Shelter – Columbia, MS; confirm current address/phone via marioncountyms.com.
Marion County Humane Society – Mississippi; dedicated to animal welfare, care, and rescue; confirm current contact information directly, as some publicly listed numbers may be outdated.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Marion County Solid Waste Department – confirm current contact via marioncountyms.com.
NOTES: Marion County is the fourth county in the seventh batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine namesake connection to Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, “the Swamp Fox,” is a distinctive local historical fact 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 Marion County
Marion County is south-central Mississippi’s Pearl River and Columbia Theatre county – the restored Art Deco theater and the Pearl River’s recreational corridor define a piney woods community that serves as the hub for the surrounding south Mississippi rural region.
Columbia (the county seat, population ~6,000) anchors Marion County’s commercial and cultural life – the theatre’s restoration and the Pearl River access point draw visitors to the south Mississippi interior.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Marion County Tax Assessor at 250 Broad Street, Suite 2, Columbia, MS 39429, phone 601-736-8294. MS residential assessed at 10% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Marion County Chancery Court at 250 Broad Street, Columbia, MS 39429, phone 601-736-8246, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
250 Broad St., Columbia, MS 39429
(601) 736-2691
CIRCUIT CLERK
250 Broad St., Columbia, MS 39429
(601) 736-2691
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Marion County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Marion 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
Marion County Chancery Court 250 Broad Street, Suite 2, Columbia, MS 39429 (601) 736-2691
Marion County was founded 1811, named for Francis Marion, in southern Mississippi, seated in Columbia.
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
250 Broad St., Columbia, MS 39429
(601) 736-5021
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
250 Broad St., Columbia, MS 39429
(601) 736-2691
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MS Dept of Health — South Region
(601) 736-4292
Marion General Hospital
mariongeneralhospital.com (Columbia — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Marion County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via marioncountyms.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Columbia
Population: 25,000
Area: 543 sq mi
Established: 1811
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Marion County residents.
