Court portal, certified copy fees, and expungement laws for Mississippi
In Mississippi, an eviction record lives in the Justice Court of the county where the rental sits, and reaching it takes legwork. There is no statewide online portal that lets you pull every case from one screen. Instead, you search county-by-county through the local county court clerk — in person, by phone, or through whatever limited lookup that individual county happens to offer. Online access is uneven and depends entirely on where the property is, so a record that is easy to find in one county may require a clerk visit in the next.
The expungement picture is just as important to understand up front: Mississippi has no statutory right to expunge or seal an eviction record. Once a case is filed in Justice Court, it generally stays in that court's record. That permanence shapes how both landlords screening applicants and tenants worried about their history should treat what they find. Certified copies, when you need an official version, run $1 per page.
Because Mississippi runs evictions through the Justice Court in each county and offers no statewide portal, start by identifying the correct county — eviction filings follow the location of the rental property, not the tenant's current address. Then contact that county's court clerk directly. Some clerks maintain a searchable online index or a public-access terminal in the courthouse; others require a phone request or an in-person visit to the records counter.
Have the tenant's full legal name and, ideally, the property address ready, since common names produce overlapping results. Ask the clerk specifically for Justice Court civil records covering landlord-tenant or unlawful-detainer actions. If you need an official copy for screening files or a court matter, request a certified copy at $1 per page. Expect to repeat this process for every county where the person may have rented.
The single most important thing to check on any Mississippi Justice Court record is the disposition — the outcome — not just the fact that a case exists. A filing is not a judgment. A landlord can file an eviction that is later dismissed, settled, withdrawn, or decided in the tenant's favor, yet the filing itself still appears in the court index.
Look for whether the court entered a judgment for possession, whether the case was dismissed, and whether any money judgment was attached. A docket entry showing only that a complaint was filed tells you a dispute happened, not that the tenant lost or did anything wrong. Treating a bare filing as proof of a bad tenant is both unfair and, for landlords, legally hazardous. Read the full case status before drawing any conclusion, and note that Justice Court records can be terse, so call the clerk if a disposition line is unclear.
Mississippi has no statute that lets a tenant expunge or seal an eviction record. Practically, that means a Justice Court eviction filing is durable and will keep surfacing in county searches and in tenant-screening reports built from court data. For landlords, that permanence does not lower the screening bar — it raises it. Federal law still governs how you may use these records: under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), if you obtain eviction history through a tenant-screening company, you must follow adverse-action rules, including notifying an applicant and identifying the reporting agency when a record factors into a denial.
Because Mississippi offers no sealing mechanism, be especially careful to verify the disposition and the identity match before acting. Do not deny an applicant on a filing that was dismissed or that belongs to someone with a similar name. Accuracy is your protection.
For Mississippi tenants, the hard truth is that there is no eviction-record expungement or sealing law to rely on. A Justice Court eviction generally remains in the county record, so the usual paths in other states — petitioning to seal after a dismissal or a set number of years — are not available here through any statewide statute.
What a tenant can do is make sure the record is accurate. If a case was dismissed, decided in your favor, or settled, confirm the court's disposition reflects that, because an accurate outcome line matters more than the existence of the case. If a tenant-screening report misstates a case or attaches a record that is not yours, the FCRA gives you the right to dispute that report directly with the screening company and request a correction. Keeping copies of dismissals and any agreed orders helps you respond quickly when an application is questioned.
This guide was prepared by the Eviction Risk Map research team using public records procedures of the Mississippi Justice Court system, administered through the Administrative Office of Courts, and reflects that Mississippi has no statutory eviction-record expungement provision. Last reviewed June 2026. It is general information, not legal advice; consult a licensed Mississippi attorney or the relevant county court clerk for guidance on a specific case.
Eviction cases are handled by the Justice Court in each county, and Mississippi has no statewide portal. Identify the county where the rental property is located, then contact that county's court clerk — some offer an online index or courthouse terminal, while others require a phone or in-person request. Search by the tenant's full legal name and ask for Justice Court landlord-tenant records.
Yes. Eviction filings in Mississippi Justice Court are public court records, accessible through the county court clerk. Access is county-by-county rather than through a single statewide site, so how you reach them — online, by phone, or in person — depends on the individual county where the case was filed.
No. Mississippi has no statutory right to expunge or seal an eviction record, so a Justice Court filing generally remains in the county record. A tenant's best protection is accuracy: confirm the court's disposition reflects a dismissal or favorable outcome, and dispute any tenant-screening report that misstates the case under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Certified copies from a Mississippi Justice Court clerk cost $1 per page. The exact total depends on how many pages the case record runs, so ask the clerk for the page count before requesting a certified copy for screening files or a court matter.
Court portal information sourced from the Mississippi court administrative office official website. Expungement laws from published Mississippi statutes (see citations above). Last updated August 17, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice.
