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Mississippi County
Prentiss County, Mississippi
Booneville's Civil War Battle and Tishomingo State Park's rocky terrain - from the Battle of Booneville (the July 1, 1862 cavalry battle in which Union Colonel Philip Sheridan - just weeks before his meteoric rise to prominence - repulsed Confederate forces under General James Chalmers, an early victory that helped launch Sheridan's career as one of the Union's most aggressive commanders) to Tishomingo State Park (one of Mississippi's most scenically distinctive state parks - the rocky outcropping, boulder-strewn terrain, and spring-fed streams of the northeast Mississippi highlands create a dramatically different landscape from the Delta and piney woods that dominate much of the state).
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Office: Prentiss County Emergency Management – PO Box 477, Booneville, MS 38829 | (662) 728-8198 | Email: [email protected]; Director Bud Lindsey.
Prentiss County 911 Office – 101 N College St, Booneville, MS 38829 | (662) 728-1784 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM.
Sheriff: Prentiss County Sheriff’s Office – 1901B East Chambers Drive, Booneville, MS 38829 | (662) 728-6232 (24 hours) | Fax: (662) 728-2003; Sheriff Randy Tolar; a member of the North Mississippi Narcotics Unit and North Mississippi Crime Stoppers program, and runs a jail ministry supporting area churches and schools.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-45 and MS-2 serve Booneville, the county seat, incorporated 1861 and named for Colonel Reuben Holman Boone, a relative of Daniel Boone; the land was purchased from Chickasaw tribesman Le-Ho-Yea.
Notes: Prentiss County was formally organized April 15, 1870 from Tishomingo County land, named for lawyer and Congressman Seargent Smith Prentiss of Natchez. Roughly 25,000-25,280 residents across 415-418 square miles. The area was earlier home to a ferry business operated by prominent Chickasaw leader George Colbert (Tootemastubbe) in the early 1800s.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Prentiss County Courthouse – Booneville, MS 38829.
Notes: Prentiss County is home to the Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads (June 1864), fought near Baldwyn, where Confederate troops under General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeated Union forces attempting to disrupt Confederate supply lines – a battle that caused over 2,000 Union casualties. Northeast Mississippi Community College, founded in Booneville in 1948 (incorporated 1941, delayed by WWII), is the tenth-largest community college by enrollment in Mississippi and, in 1957, became the first institution in the state to offer an associate degree in nursing; it serves a five-county district (Alcorn, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union). Booneville is one of 21 certified Mississippi retirement cities.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Prentiss County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via prentisscounty.org.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Tupelo, MS VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Booneville public library address/phone via prentisscounty.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Rails and Trails Museum (housed in the restored Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad depot in downtown Booneville) and Northeast Mississippi Community College’s campus are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine nursing-degree milestone at NEMCC and the county’s Civil War history at Brice’s Cross Roads are distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Prentiss County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via prentisscounty.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Booneville Animal Shelter (City of Booneville) – 200 Townhouse Road, Booneville, MS | Office (662) 210-0834 | Email: [email protected] | Director Derrick Leatherwood; Hours: 8 AM-4 PM; recognized by the Best Friends Network with a 2022 No-Kill Shelter award for exceeding a 90% save rate for cats and dogs.
Booneville 2nd Chance Animal Sanctuary (B2CAS) – Booneville, MS; a separate organization from the city shelter, focused on expanding its foster program.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Prentiss County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via prentisscounty.org.
NOTES: Prentiss County is the third county in the ninth batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine nursing-degree milestone at Northeast Mississippi Community College and the county’s Civil War history at Brice’s Cross Roads are 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 Prentiss County
Prentiss County is northeast Mississippi’s rocky highlands and Civil War cavalry battle county – the Battle of Booneville helped launch Philip Sheridan’s career, and Tishomingo State Park’s boulder-strewn terrain is unlike anywhere else in Mississippi.
Booneville (the county seat, population ~8,000) serves Prentiss County’s manufacturing and agricultural communities near the Tennessee border.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Prentiss County Tax Assessor at 101 N. Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, phone 662-728-8402. MS residential assessed at 10% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Prentiss County Chancery Court at 101 N. Main Street, Booneville, MS 38829, phone 662-728-8405, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
100 N. 2nd St., Booneville, MS 38829
(662) 728-8151
CIRCUIT CLERK
100 N. 2nd St., Booneville, MS 38829
(662) 728-8151
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Prentiss County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Prentiss 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
Prentiss County Chancery Court 100 N. Main Street (mail: P.O. Box 477), Booneville, MS 38829 (662) 728-8151 Prentiss County is in Mississippi’s northeastern corner, seated in Booneville.
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
100 N. 2nd St., Booneville, MS 38829
(662) 728-6161
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
100 N. 2nd St., Booneville, MS 38829
(662) 728-8151
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) 728-6374
Prentiss County Memorial Hospital
pcmhosp.com (Booneville — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Prentiss County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via prentisscounty.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Booneville
Population: 25,000
Area: 415 sq mi
Established: 1870
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Prentiss County residents.
