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.
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: Simpson County Emergency Management Agency – 111 West Pine Ave, Ste. 2, PO Box 308, Mendenhall, MS 39114 | (601) 847-1418 / (601) 847-3434 | Cell (601) 201-4302; Director John Kilpatrick (appointed 2019).
Sheriff: Simpson County Sheriff’s Office – 1496 Simpson Hwy 149, Mendenhall, MS 39114 | (601) 847-2921 / (601) 847-2155 | Fax: (601) 847-2156 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Paul Mullins; jail capacity 130, jurisdiction spans over 580 square miles.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-49 and MS-13 serve Mendenhall, the county seat, and Magee, the county’s largest city, along the Pearl River, which forms the county’s western border and was an important 19th-century transportation route.
Notes: Simpson County was founded in 1824, named for territorial judge Josiah Simpson. Roughly 25,500-25,950 residents across 589-590 square miles, part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. Mendenhall was originally named Edna, then renamed for Thomas Mendenhall, a lawyer from the now-ghost-town of Westville.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Simpson County Courthouse – Mendenhall, MS 39114.
Notes: Simpson County is genuinely, significantly the birthplace of a major American ministry with deep civil rights roots. In 1961, Rev. John M. Perkins moved to Mendenhall and founded Voice of Calvary Ministries (now The Mendenhall Ministries), integrating evangelism with education, healthcare, housing, legal aid, and economic development – a model that became nationally influential in the “Christian community development” movement. Throughout the 1960s Perkins organized voter registration drives, marches, and boycotts of white-owned Mendenhall businesses; in February 1970, he was arrested in neighboring Rankin County and beaten nearly to death by Mississippi Highway Patrol officers at the Brandon jail, an ordeal he later wrote shaped his lifelong commitment to racial reconciliation over vengeance. Perkins, who died in 2025 at age 95, authored the influential memoir “Let Justice Roll Down”; the ministry he founded continues today, and the Perkins Visitors Center in Mendenhall preserves this history. Writer Patrick Smith, author of “The River Is Home” (1953), was also born in Mendenhall.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Simpson County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via simpsoncountyms.com.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Jackson, MS VA medical center; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Mendenhall and Magee public library addresses/phone via simpsoncountyms.com.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Perkins Visitors Center and Mendenhall Ministries campus, and the Simpson County Historical & Genealogical Society (150 West Court Avenue, Mendenhall) are the county’s most historically significant sites.
Notes: The genuine, nationally influential John Perkins civil rights and ministry legacy is one of the most historically important local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Simpson County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via simpsoncountyms.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Save Our Strays – Mendenhall, MS | Email:[email protected]; a 501(c)(3) no-kill, all-volunteer, foster-based rescue serving Mendenhall and surrounding areas.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Simpson County – confirm current contact via simpsoncountyms.com.
NOTES: Simpson County is the first county in the tenth batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, nationally influential John Perkins civil rights and ministry legacy is one of the most historically important 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 Simpson County County
Simpson County is south-central Mississippi’s poultry and timber agricultural county – the broiler chicken operations and pine timber harvesting that define the county’s rural economy anchor communities where Mendenhall provides governmental services and Magee provides commercial services to this agricultural Mississippi heartland between Jackson and the Gulf Coast.
Mendenhall (the county seat, population ~2,700) is Simpson County’s governmental hub while Magee serves as the county’s primary commercial center along US 49 in the south-central Mississippi pine belt.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Simpson County Assessor at 109 W. Pine Avenue, Mendenhall, MS 39114, phone 601-847-1744. MS assessed at percentage of true value.
Courts & Legal
Simpson County Circuit Court at 109 W. Pine Avenue, Mendenhall, MS 39114, phone 601-847-2626, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
109 W. Canal St., Mendenhall, MS 39114
(601) 847-2626
CIRCUIT CLERK
109 W. Canal St., Mendenhall, MS 39114
(601) 847-2626
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Simpson County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Simpson 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
Simpson County Chancery Court P.O. Box 367, Mendenhall, MS 39114 (601) 847-2626 Simpson County is in south-central Mississippi, seated in Mendenhall.
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 W. Canal St., Mendenhall, MS 39114
(601) 847-3421
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
109 W. Canal St., Mendenhall, MS 39114
(601) 847-2626
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) 847-2161
Simpson General Hospital
simpsongeneral.com (Mendenhall — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Simpson County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via simpsoncountyms.com.
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.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Mendenhall
Population: 27,000
Area: 587 sq mi
Established: 1824
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Simpson County County residents.
