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Mississippi County
Wilkinson County, Mississippi
Woodville and Mississippi's oldest town legacy - from Woodville's distinction as one of Mississippi's oldest and most historically preserved towns (Woodville's Rosemont Plantation was the boyhood home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and the town's well-preserved antebellum commercial and residential architecture makes it one of southwest Mississippi's most historically significant communities) to Wilkinson County's position at Mississippi's southwestern corner (the county borders Louisiana along the Mississippi River and the Homochitto National Forest, with forested bluff country and the historic Natchez Trace corridor defining its landscape).
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Office: Wilkinson County Emergency Management/Homeland Security – 1495 US Hwy 61, PO Box 516, Woodville, MS 39669 | (601) 645-2828 / (601) 888-4381 | Cell (601) 870-1809 | Fax: (601) 888-6205 | Email: [email protected].
Sheriff: Wilkinson County Sheriff’s Office – 1389 US Highway 61 South, PO Box 980, Woodville, MS 39669 | (601) 888-3511 | Fax: (601) 888-1832 | Email: [email protected]; Hours: 24/7.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-61 and MS-24 serve Woodville, the county seat, bordered by the Mississippi River on the west.
Notes: Wilkinson County is named for James Wilkinson, a Revolutionary War military leader and first governor of the Louisiana Territory after its 1803 acquisition by the United States.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Wilkinson County Courthouse – Woodville, MS 39669; a downtown square courthouse in its third structure on the site, surrounded by stately live oaks including the “Jefferson Davis Oak,” a member of the American Society of Live Oaks.
Notes: Wilkinson County is genuinely, significantly the boyhood home of Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America. Rosemont Plantation, built around 1810-1814 near Woodville by Davis’s parents Samuel and Jane Davis, remained in the Davis family for roughly a century; Davis attended the log-cabin Wilkinson Academy in Woodville and regularly returned to Rosemont throughout his life, including after his 1867 release from federal custody at Fort Monroe. Jane Cook Davis died and is buried at Rosemont along with other family members. Rosemont was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1987; it remains open for public tours. Separately, and directly relevant to InmateAid’s mission: the Wilkinson County Correctional Center, a private prison at 2999 US-61, Woodville, opened in 1998, has an operating capacity of roughly 900 and has been managed by Management and Training Corporation since 2013 under contract with the Mississippi Department of Corrections; the facility has at times housed prisoners transferred from Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman) as part of broader state prison reforms.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Wilkinson County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via wilkinson.co.ms.gov.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Natchez, MS VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Woodville-area public library – 489 Main Street, Woodville, MS 39669 | (601) 888-6712; Hours: Mon-Wed 10 AM-5 PM, Thu 9 AM-5 PM, Sat 10 AM-2 PM.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Rosemont Plantation, the “Jefferson Davis Oak” on the Woodville town square, and the historic Woodville downtown district (built around antebellum planter mansions) are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine, historically significant Jefferson Davis boyhood-home connection is among the most nationally notable facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Wilkinson County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via wilkinson.co.ms.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Wilkinson County Animal Services – (225) 774-7700; confirm current hours/address via the Sheriff’s Office or wilkinson.co.ms.gov.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Wilkinson County – confirm current contact via wilkinson.co.ms.gov.
NOTES: Wilkinson County is the ninth county in the eleventh and final batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, historically significant Jefferson Davis boyhood-home connection at Rosemont Plantation, alongside the Wilkinson County Correctional Center’s direct relevance to InmateAid’s mission, are covered factually here. 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 Wilkinson County
Wilkinson County is Mississippi’s southwest corner county and home to Jefferson Davis’s boyhood plantation – Woodville’s antebellum heritage and Rosemont Plantation draw history enthusiasts while the surrounding Homochitto National Forest and river bluff country define a landscape that is among Mississippi’s most distinctively scenic and historically layered.
Woodville (the county seat, population ~1,000) is Wilkinson County’s governmental and historical hub, anchoring one of Mississippi’s oldest counties along the Louisiana border.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Wilkinson County Assessor at 525 Main Street, Woodville, MS 39669, phone 601-888-4562. MS assessed at percentage of true value by property class.
Courts & Legal
Wilkinson County Circuit Court at 525 Main Street, Woodville, MS 39669, phone 601-888-4381, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
525 Main St., Woodville, MS 39669
(601) 888-4381
CIRCUIT CLERK
525 Main St., Woodville, MS 39669
(601) 888-4381
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Wilkinson County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Wilkinson 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
Wilkinson County Chancery Court P.O. Box 516, Woodville, MS 39669 (601) 888-4381
Wilkinson County was founded 1802, in Mississippi’s southwestern corner on the Louisiana border, seated in Woodville.
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
525 Main St., Woodville, MS 39669
(601) 888-3511
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
525 Main St., Woodville, MS 39669
(601) 888-4381
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Wilkinson County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via wilkinson.co.ms.gov. Southwest MS Mental Health Complex (Natchez) – (601) 446-6634; Crisis line 1-877-353-8689 (24/7).
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Woodville
Population: 8,500
Area: 678 sq mi
Established: 1802
Tier: 4
Public Records
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