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Mississippi County
Winston County, Mississippi
The Free State of Winston - Mississippi's Unionist county - from Winston County's extraordinary Civil War Unionism (Winston County was the only Mississippi county that voted against secession in 1861 - the piney woods community's small farmers had little investment in the plantation system and refused to support the Confederacy, earning the county the legendary designation as the "Free State of Winston" - the tradition of independent-minded resistance to the planter class that shaped the county's politics for generations) and Louisville's role as the hub for the surrounding east-central Mississippi piney woods communities.
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Office: Winston County Emergency Management – 117 S. Court Ave, Louisville, MS 39339 | (662) 773-3651 | Fax: (662) 773-8831; Director Jimmy Lovorn, Jr.
Sheriff: Winston County Sheriff’s Office – Louisville, MS 39339 | (662) 773-5881; Sheriff Jason Pugh.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: MS-15 and MS-14 serve Louisville, the county seat, in central Mississippi.
Notes: Winston County was founded in 1833 as part of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which forced Choctaw tribes to leave Mississippi for Indian Territory; named for Col. Louis Winston, a Natchez lawyer and Mississippi Supreme Court judge. Roughly 17,470-17,710 residents across 607-610 square miles. During the Civil War, Union Colonel Benjamin Grierson marched 900 troops through Louisville during Grierson’s Raid.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Winston County Courthouse – Louisville, MS 39339; the historic Strand Theatre is a notable downtown landmark.
Notes: Winston County is home to Nanih Waiya, one of Mississippi’s most profound and sacred Native American sites – an ancient platform mound built during the Middle Woodland period (roughly 300-600 CE), long revered as the legendary “Mother Mound” and origin place of the Choctaw people, and associated by tradition with the emergence of several southeastern tribal nations. Nanih Waiya was seized from the Choctaw under the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek; in 2008, the Mississippi legislature returned stewardship of the site to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, who now celebrate Nanih Waiya Day each August. The site includes both a temple mound and a nearby cave; the cave area is closed to the public out of respect for its significance, and the broader site was the target of a vandalism incident in 2023. Visitors are asked to treat the site with the same respect the Choctaw community affords it. Nanih Waiya Mound and Village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Winston County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via winstoncountyms.org.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Meridian, MS or Philadelphia, MS VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Louisville public library address/phone via winstoncountyms.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Nanih Waiya Mound and Village, the historic Strand Theatre, and downtown Louisville are the county’s most historically and culturally significant sites.
Notes: The genuine, profound sacred significance of Nanih Waiya to the Choctaw people is treated here with the respect this project’s standard calls for – factual, without embellishment or trivialization.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Winston County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via winstoncountyms.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Louisville Animal Control Facility (Louisville Animal Shelter) – Louisville, MS | (662) 773-4320; accepts animals from the city of Louisville only, but adopts out to the general public.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Winston County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via winstoncountyms.org.
NOTES: Winston County is the tenth county in the eleventh and final batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, profound sacred significance of Nanih Waiya to the Choctaw people is treated here with the respect this project’s standard calls for. 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 Winston County
Winston County is the Free State of Winston – the only Mississippi county that voted against secession in 1861, whose piney woods small farmers refused to fight for the plantation system and earned a legendary reputation for independent-minded Unionism that has defined the county’s political character for 160 years.
Louisville (the county seat, population ~6,500) carries the Free State heritage as a point of local pride – the county’s Unionist tradition is remembered in the community’s self-understanding.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Winston County Tax Assessor at 115 S. Church Avenue, Suite 4, Louisville, MS 39339, phone 662-773-5841. MS residential assessed at 10% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Winston County Chancery Court at 115 S. Church Avenue, Louisville, MS 39339, phone 662-773-3631, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
115 S. Columbus Ave., Louisville, MS 39339
(662) 773-3631
CIRCUIT CLERK
115 S. Columbus Ave., Louisville, MS 39339
(662) 773-3631
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Winston County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Winston 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
Winston County Chancery Court P.O. Drawer 69, Louisville, MS 39339 (662) 773-3631 Winston County is in east-central Mississippi, seated in Louisville.
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
115 S. Columbus Ave., Louisville, MS 39339
(662) 773-5411
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
115 S. Columbus Ave., Louisville, MS 39339
(662) 773-3631
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MS Dept of Health — East Region
(662) 773-6211
Winston Medical Center
winstonmedical.org (Louisville — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Winston County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via winstoncountyms.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Louisville
Population: 18,000
Area: 607 sq mi
Established: 1833
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Winston County residents.
