What a Court Docket Shows in Perry County
A docket is the list and history of filings, hearings, and actions in a single case. It is the spine of the case file. Each line, called a docket entry, records one event with a date and a short label, such as a motion filed, an order entered, a continuance granted, or a hearing set. Read top to bottom, the docket tells the story of how a case moved from its first filing toward a judgment or disposition.
A docket is not the same as the full case record. The docket is the index of events, while the full file holds the actual documents, including complaints, motions, exhibits, orders, and final decrees. A reader can scan a Perry County docket to see what has happened and what is scheduled next, then request or open the underlying document when a specific filing matters. Both Circuit Court and Chancery Court keep dockets, and each court uses its own labels and status flags to describe where a case stands.
How to Find Perry County Court Dockets Online
Circuit and Chancery dockets are filed and tracked through Mississippi Electronic Courts, the state e-filing and case-management system. The Mississippi Judiciary describes MEC as an internet-based system that maintains the docket and documents for participating courts, with public access generally running through PAMEC, the public-access side of MEC. Perry County Chancery Court went live on MEC on February 1, 2016, and Perry County Circuit Court followed on February 21, 2017, so electronically filed cases from those dates forward are tracked in the system.
The public-facing Twelfth Circuit CourtInfo page and the Tenth Chancery CourtInfo page show each court's location, hours, go-live date, and flag definitions without a login. Viewing the case search and the actual docket entries requires a PAMEC account. The public can register at the PAMEC online registration page, then sign in to look up dockets and documents.
- Register for a public viewer account through PAMEC, then sign in through the MEC login route for the court you need.
- Pick the right court: the Twelfth Circuit for Perry County felony and Circuit civil cases, or the Tenth Chancery District for divorce, custody, estate, and guardianship cases.
- Search by party name or case number to pull the matching case and open its docket sheet.
- Review the docket entries in date order, and select a document link to view a filing when access is permitted.
A viewer without permission for a sealed or restricted document may receive a no-permission message even when the docket line itself is visible. For help with registration or login, the MEC and PAMEC help desk answers at 601-576-4650 and helpdesk@mec.ms.gov.
Sample Perry County Docket Entry
Each docket entry packs several pieces of information into one line. Once a reader learns the pattern, a Perry County docket becomes easy to scan. The table below breaks down the parts of a typical entry and what each one tells you about the case.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Entry Date | The date the filing or court action was recorded, used to follow the case in order. |
| Event Type | The kind of action, such as motion, order, hearing notice, continuance, plea, or judgment. |
| Party Filing | Who submitted the document, such as the plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, or the State. |
| Document Link | A link to the underlying PDF when the filing is electronic and public access is permitted. |
| Status Flag | A short code, such as Trial Pending or Closed, that signals where the case currently stands. |
Note: A docket line can be visible while the linked document stays restricted, so seeing an entry does not guarantee access to the filing behind it.
Circuit and Chancery Courts That Publish Perry County Dockets
Two trial courts generate most of the dockets a Perry County researcher will want, and both run on MEC. The Circuit Court is the general law court, and the Chancery Court is the equity court. Lower courts in the county handle their own calendars but do not publish full online dockets the way the trial courts do.
- Perry County Circuit Court in the Twelfth Circuit District with Forrest County, hearing felony criminal cases, Circuit civil lawsuits, and appeals from Justice Court, under Judges T. Michael Reed and Wes Curry.
- Perry County Chancery Court in the Tenth Chancery District with Forrest, Lamar, Marion, and Pearl River Counties, hearing divorce, custody, adoption, estate, guardianship, and conservatorship cases.
- Justice Court and the municipal courts in Beaumont, New Augusta, and Richton, which handle misdemeanors, small claims, and city matters, but whose dockets are not posted in a public online system.
Land and recorded instruments are a separate track. The Chancery Clerk runs the Perry County official records portal for deeds, mortgages, liens, and lis pendens, but that is a land-record index, not a court docket. A lien or lis pendens can still matter to a case, yet the filing history of a lawsuit lives in MEC, not in the recording portal.
Reading MEC Flags on Perry County Dockets
MEC marks each case with status flags that summarize what is happening without forcing a reader to study every line. These flags appear on Circuit Court dockets and in the CourtInfo flag definitions the courts publish. The glossary below lists the official MEC flags and what each one means, so a Perry County docket reads clearly even to someone who is not a lawyer.
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Adjudication Order TBE | Adjudication order to be entered. |
| Appeal | The case carries an appeal flag. |
| Arraignment Pending | Arraignment has not yet been completed. |
| Bench Warrant Issued / Returned | Bench warrant status on the case. |
| Bond Review / Bond Revocation / Bond Reinstated | Bond-related docket status. |
| Bound Over | A lower-court matter sent up to a higher court. |
| Capias Pending | A capias is awaiting service or action. |
| Case Inactive | The case is inactive. |
| Closed | The case is closed. |
| Cost Bill | A court-cost billing entry. |
| County / Justice / Municipal Court Appeal | Identifies the appeal source court. |
| Drug Court | Problem-solving-court participation or status. |
| Expunged | The record has been expunged. |
| Final Judgment Issued | A final judgment has been entered. |
| For Sentence | Sentencing is pending. |
| In Custody | The defendant is in custody. |
| Indigent | Indigency status on the case. |
| Interpreter | Interpreter or translator involvement. |
| Legacy Case | An older case converted into MEC. |
| MDOC Warrant Issued | A corrections-related warrant status. |
| Mediation | The case is in mediation. |
| Minor Child | A minor-child flag. |
| Motion Referred | A motion referred to a judge or special master. |
| Nolle Pros Pending | A prosecutor's dismissal order is pending. |
| Order TBE | An order to be entered. |
| Plea Pending | A plea has not yet been completed. |
| Probation / Probation Viol Pend / PRS Viol Pend | Probation or post-release supervision status. |
| Register as Sex Offender | Sex-offender registration status. |
| Sealed / Sealed_Case | Restricted public access. |
| Stayed Case | Proceedings are stayed. |
| Trial Pending | A trial is scheduled or pending. |
Flags such as Sealed, Expunged, and Minor Child also signal that some entries or documents will not open for the public. A docket may show that a sealed matter exists while keeping its filings out of view.
Criminal and Civil Calendar Contacts in Perry County
A docket shows what has happened, but a court calendar shows what is scheduled and when. The Twelfth Circuit site posts criminal and civil calendar links for the judges who sit over Perry County cases. When a hearing date is unclear, the court administrator is the most reliable way to confirm it, because calendars can change after a continuance or a reset.
For Judge Reed's criminal calendar, the court administrator is the published point of contact. Civil settings and Chancery matters route through the relevant court administrator for that judge, and the Circuit Clerk can confirm a Perry County Circuit case number and status by phone.
Judge Reed Criminal Calendar
Brittany Stuart, Court Administrator
Twelfth Circuit Court District
Phone: 601-544-5495
Email: bstuart@forrestcountyms.us
The two Chancery court administrators for the Tenth District schedule settings for the chancellors who hear Perry County equity cases and can be reached at 601-545-6079. The Perry County Circuit Clerk answers case-status calls at 601.964.3398, and the Chancery Clerk answers at 601.964.8398.
Bond Sign-In and Bench Warrants on the Docket
Felony defendants out on bond in the Twelfth Circuit must sign in with the court every month, and the docket reflects that obligation. The Twelfth Circuit felony bond page sets a clear window: sign-in runs from the first day of the month through the second Wednesday. Missing the sign-in can trigger a bench warrant, which then appears on the case as a Bench Warrant Issued flag.
If a person cannot sign in because they are hospitalized or in rehab, the facility must fax a letter to the court administrator at 601-545-6179 or email bstuart@forrestcountyms.us, including a tentative release date. Once the warrant is served or recalled, the docket updates to Bench Warrant Returned. A capias, which is a court order directing arrest, follows a similar path and shows on the docket as Capias Pending until it is acted on.
Important: A missed monthly bond sign-in can put a bench warrant on a Perry County case, so a defendant who falls behind should contact the court administrator before the next court date rather than wait for the docket to change.
Perry County Docket vs. Full Case Record
The difference between a docket and a full case record decides where a reader should look. The docket is the quick index that lists events. The full record is the stack of documents behind those events. Each serves a different purpose, and a thorough search often uses both.
| Docket | Full Case Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | A dated list of entries | The full filings and orders |
| Access | Viewable in MEC with a PAMEC account | May need permission, a fee, or a clerk visit |
| Use | Track case progress and hearing dates | Legal review, evidence, certified copies |
| Where | Circuit or Chancery docket sheet | Circuit Clerk or Chancery Clerk file |
For the documents themselves, or for older cases filed before the MEC go-live dates, the clerk who holds the file is the right channel. The full picture of a felony or civil matter, including charges and sentencing, sits in the Perry County criminal court records kept by the Circuit Clerk.
Justice and Municipal Court Docket Gaps in Perry County
Not every Perry County case appears in an online docket. Justice Court and the municipal courts in Beaumont, New Augusta, and Richton handle misdemeanors, small claims, traffic offenses, and city ordinance matters, but they do not publish their dockets in a public online system. The official county courts page carries placeholder text rather than a working case search, so these calendars are not searchable the way Circuit and Chancery dockets are.
To confirm a lower-court date, the citation or summons usually names the issuing court, and that court or its clerk is the place to call. If a Justice Court matter is appealed, the Circuit Clerk handles appeals from Justice Court, so the case can then surface in the Circuit Court docket. For court records that are not online, the Mississippi Public Records Act, Miss. Code Ann. Section 25-61-1 et seq., supports a written request to the office that keeps the file, and the Mississippi Judiciary public-records policy governs records held by the judiciary. The statewide rollout that brought Perry County onto MEC was confirmed when the Judiciary announced e-filing completed statewide, but that milestone covers the Chancery, Circuit, and County Courts, not the local Justice and municipal dockets.