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Mississippi County
Scott County, Mississippi
Forest's poultry industry and Scott County's piney woods agricultural heritage - from Scott County's significant poultry processing economy (Scott County is one of Mississippi's most significant poultry-producing counties - the chicken processing facilities and broiler farms that dominate the county's agricultural economy make it part of Mississippi's most important food production industry, which contributes billions annually to the state economy) to the piney woods landscape of the east-central Mississippi interior and the county's timber and agricultural heritage.
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Office: Scott County Emergency Management – confirm current phone via scottcountyms.gov; MEMA District 6 Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan covers the county.
Sheriff: Scott County Sheriff’s Office – 531 Airport Rd, Forest, MS 39074 | (601) 469-1511 | Fax: (601) 469-5224; Sheriff Mike Lee.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-80 and MS-35 serve Forest, the county seat, and Morton, a poultry-industry hub surrounded by the Bienville National Forest, with Roosevelt State Park nearby.
Notes: Scott County is a major center of Mississippi’s poultry industry, the state’s largest agricultural sector for decades, employing over 28,000 people statewide with payrolls exceeding $1 billion. On August 7, 2019, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted the largest single-day, single-state workplace immigration raid in agency history, arresting 680 workers across seven Mississippi poultry plants; the Koch Foods plant in Morton (Scott County) accounted for over half of those arrests. The raids drew national attention and had lasting effects on families and the local community, noted here factually and evenhandedly.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Scott County Courthouse – Forest, MS 39074; chicken statues in downtown Forest, in front of the courthouse, represent the area’s poultry-industry heritage.
Notes: Forest hosts the annual Wing Dang Doodle Festival, a community car show and celebration. The Forest Downtown Historic District and Scott County Coliseum are notable local landmarks.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Scott County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via scottcountyms.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Jackson, MS VA medical center; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Forest Library – confirm current address/phone via scottcountyms.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Bienville National Forest, Roosevelt State Park (near Morton), and the Forest Downtown Historic District are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The county’s poultry-industry heritage and its role in the 2019 ICE raids are covered factually here, without embellishment either way.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Scott County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via scottcountyms.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Forest Animal Control – (601) 469-2251.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Scott County – confirm current contact via scottcountyms.gov.
NOTES: Scott County is the sixth county in the ninth batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The county’s poultry-industry heritage and its role in the 2019 ICE raids – the largest single-state workplace immigration enforcement action in U.S. history – are covered factually here, without embellishment either way. 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 Scott County
Scott County is east-central Mississippi’s piney woods poultry capital – the broiler chicken industry that defines the county’s agricultural economy makes it one of Mississippi’s most significant food production communities in the piney woods interior between Jackson and Meridian.
Forest (the county seat, population ~5,500) is the hub for Scott County’s poultry and timber communities on the I-20/US-80 corridor.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Scott County Tax Assessor at 100 Main Street, Suite 4, Forest, MS 39074, phone 601-469-5051. MS residential assessed at 10% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Scott County Chancery Court at 100 Main Street, Forest, MS 39074, phone 601-469-1922, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
100 E. 1st St., Forest, MS 39074
(601) 469-4002
CIRCUIT CLERK
100 E. 1st St., Forest, MS 39074
(601) 469-4002
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Scott County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Scott 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
Scott County Chancery Court P.O. Box 630, Forest, MS 39074 (601) 469-1922 Scott County is in central Mississippi, seated in Forest.
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 E. 1st St., Forest, MS 39074
(601) 469-3911
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
100 E. 1st St., Forest, MS 39074
(601) 469-4002
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MS Dept of Health — Central Region
(601) 469-4261
Scott Regional Hospital
scottregional.org (Morton — quality community hospital; note Morton is county's second city)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Scott County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via scottcountyms.gov.
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