Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
Mississippi County
Perry County, Mississippi
New Augusta and south Mississippi pine belt - from New Augusta's role as the small governmental hub of one of Mississippi's more rural southern counties to Perry County's extensive longleaf and loblolly pine forests (the county sits in the heart of Mississippi's Pine Belt region, where commercial timber operations, pulpwood production, and forestry services define the economic landscape alongside small cattle farms and the rural communities that have sustained the county for generations).
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Perry County Emergency Management Agency – 101 Main Street, New Augusta, MS 39462; Director Chase Dewitt.
Sheriff: Perry County Sheriff’s Office – 103 First Street West, PO Box 228, New Augusta, MS 39462 | (601) 964-8461 | Fax: (601) 964-8463 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Jacob Garner.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-98 and MS-42 serve New Augusta, the county seat, part of the Hattiesburg Metropolitan Statistical Area; Richton is the county’s largest town.
Notes: Perry County was established in 1820, named for War of 1812 naval hero Oliver Hazard Perry. Roughly 11,510-11,580 residents across 647-650 square miles, located in the Piney Woods of southeastern Mississippi. Until 1906, the county seat was the original town of Augusta (“Old Augusta”), on the east bank of the Leaf River; New Augusta, two miles south, became the new seat that year.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Perry County Courthouse – New Augusta, MS 39462.
Notes: Old Augusta is genuinely, colorfully notable as the execution site of James Copeland, a notorious 19th-century Mississippi-Alabama outlaw and leader of the “Wages and Copeland Clan,” which terrorized the frontier South through robbery, arson, and murder from the late 1830s through the 1850s. Copeland was hanged there on October 30, 1857, before a large crowd; he reportedly dictated a detailed confession of his criminal career to the sheriff who executed him, which was later published as a widely read book. Legends of the gang’s buried treasure persist to this day among local treasure hunters. A 1949 state historical marker commemorates Old Augusta as the county’s first seat and site of Copeland’s trial.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Perry County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via perrycountyms.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Hattiesburg, MS or Biloxi, MS VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current New Augusta and Richton public library addresses/phone via perrycountyms.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Old Augusta Historic Site (on the Leaf River) is the county’s most historically distinctive attraction.
Notes: The genuine, colorful James Copeland outlaw history at Old Augusta is one of the most distinctive local frontier-era facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Perry County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via perrycountyms.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Perry County Animal Rescue, Inc. – New Augusta, MS area; confirm current address/phone via perrycountyanimalrescue.com.
Friends of Perry Animal Shelter (FOPAS) – supports the local shelter’s mission to find forever homes for animals; confirm current address/phone via fopas.org.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Perry County – confirm current contact via perrycountyms.gov.
NOTES: Perry County is the seventh and final county in the eighth batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, colorful James Copeland outlaw history at Old Augusta is one of the most distinctive local frontier-era 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 Perry County
Perry County is south Mississippi’s pine belt timber county – extensive commercial forestry operations across the county’s forested hills sustain the local economy while New Augusta serves as the quiet governmental center for one of Mississippi’s more sparsely populated southern counties between Hattiesburg and the Alabama border.
New Augusta (the county seat, population ~600) is one of Mississippi’s smallest county seats, with Richton serving as a secondary commercial center for Perry County residents.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Perry County Assessor at 118 Main Street, New Augusta, MS 39462, phone 601-964-8398. MS assessed at percentage of true value by property class.
Courts & Legal
Perry County Circuit Court at 118 Main Street, New Augusta, MS 39462, phone 601-964-8398, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
109 S. Main St., New Augusta, MS 39462
(601) 964-8398
CIRCUIT CLERK
109 S. Main St., New Augusta, MS 39462
(601) 964-8398
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Perry County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Perry 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
Perry County Chancery Court 103 Main Street (mail: P.O. Box 198), New Augusta, MS 39462 (601) 964-8398 Perry County is in southeastern Mississippi, seated in New Augusta.
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
109 S. Main St., New Augusta, MS 39462
(601) 964-3666
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
109 S. Main St., New Augusta, MS 39462
(601) 964-8398
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) 964-3741
Perry County General Hospital
perrycountyhospital.com (Richton — quality critical access hospital; note Richton is the commercial center though New Augusta is the seat)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Perry County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via perrycountyms.gov.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
