How to Find Perry County Traffic Court Records
Perry County does not run a single online traffic citation portal. There is no countywide site where you type a ticket number and pull the case. The county Courts page carries placeholder text for the lower courts, so it does not give a working Justice Court or municipal traffic lookup. That means the first step is not a website. It is the ticket itself.
The citation names the court that holds the record. It also names the issuing agency, the citation number, and the hearing date. A traffic record outside the city limits usually sits with Perry County Justice Court. A ticket written inside Beaumont, New Augusta, or Richton sits with that town's municipal court. When a Justice Court case is appealed, the file moves up to Circuit Court. Read the ticket first, then go to the court it names.
- Pull the citation and read the court name, the agency, the citation number, and the hearing date printed on it.
- Decide the venue from the ticket. Outside a town it is usually Justice Court; inside a town it is that municipal court.
- If no court phone is printed, call the county at 601.964.8370 or the Circuit Clerk at 601.964.3398 for routing help.
- Ask the court to confirm the case, the disposition, the balance owed, and whether any copy is public.
- Request a plain or certified copy of the case if you need a record for your files.
Which Courts Handle Traffic Cases in Perry County
Traffic venue in Perry County splits by where the stop happened and who wrote the ticket. Justice Court handles traffic offenses outside the municipalities, along with misdemeanor matters and small claims. Each incorporated town runs its own municipal court for city traffic and ordinance cases. Circuit Court does not write traffic tickets, but it hears appeals that come up from Justice Court, and the Circuit Clerk keeps that appeal file.
The table below lays out the likely venues and the working contacts confirmed in official county sources. Some municipal court phone lines were not published, so those rows point to the town office named on the ticket.
| Court | Traffic Cases Handled | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Perry County Justice Court | Traffic offenses outside city limits, misdemeanors, small claims | County line 601.964.8370; routing via Circuit Clerk 601.964.3398 |
| Beaumont Municipal Court | Traffic and ordinance cases inside Beaumont | Town of Beaumont 601.784.3352; Beaumont Police 601.784.3781 |
| New Augusta / Richton Municipal Courts | Traffic and ordinance cases inside those towns | Contact the town office named on the citation (not published) |
| Perry County Circuit Court | Appeals from Justice Court traffic cases | Circuit Clerk, New Augusta, 601.964.3398 |
Types of Traffic Cases in Perry County Records
Traffic records group into a few broad kinds. Most are moving violations written during a stop. Others are equipment or paperwork problems that do not involve how the car was driven. A small share are serious enough to leave the traffic track and become criminal matters. The category often decides whether you can simply mail a payment or must appear in person.
- Moving violations - speeding, running a signal, improper passing, and similar driving offenses.
- Non-moving and equipment - expired tag, broken lights, and other vehicle-condition citations.
- Paperwork offenses - no proof of insurance, expired license, or registration issues.
- Commercial and CDL - violations involving commercial drivers, which carry stricter handling.
- Serious or criminal traffic - reckless driving, DUI, and cases tied to a crash that can route to criminal court.
Perry County did not publish a local fine schedule for any of these categories. The amount, the points, and the appearance rule come from the issuing court, not from a county website.
What Perry County Traffic Court Records Show
A traffic case file is narrow next to a full Circuit Court record, but it still carries the core facts of the ticket. It ties the driver to a charge, a court date, and an outcome. When a case is public, the entries below are the fields a clerk or a record copy generally reflects. Sealed, juvenile, or restricted material does not appear in ordinary public access.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Citation Number | The unique ticket identifier assigned by the officer or issuing agency. |
| Issuing Court | The Justice Court, municipal court, or Circuit appeal file that holds the case. |
| Charge / Statute | The specific traffic offense cited, such as speeding or no insurance. |
| Court Date | The scheduled hearing or appearance date printed on the citation. |
| Plea / Disposition | How the driver responded and the current or final outcome of the charge. |
| Fine and Costs | The amount assessed on a plea or conviction, where the court records it. |
| Warrant / FTA Entries | Bench warrant or failure-to-appear notations, if those entries are public. |
Searching by Citation Number or by Name
When a court does keep its own lookup, two paths usually exist. A citation number points straight to one case and avoids confusion. A name search casts wider and may return several people who share a name, or several tickets for one driver. Because Perry County has no central traffic portal, both methods run through the issuing court by phone or in person rather than online.
No official Perry County traffic citation lookup portal was located in county sources. A reliable citation-lookup search-field table cannot be published here, because the county does not document the citation number, driver license, court date, or online payment fields a portal would use. That is a research gap, not an oversight. Until a court posts its own tool, the citation number you read off the ticket is the single most useful key to give the court when you call.
How to Pay or Contest a Perry County Traffic Ticket
Paying or fighting a ticket follows the court named on the citation, and the steps stay similar across venues. Do not assume an online payment exists, because no county or municipal online traffic payment portal was found. The walkthrough below keeps to channels that official sources confirm.
- Read the citation and identify the court name, the officer or agency, the citation number, the hearing date, and any payment instructions.
- If it names Justice Court, contact Perry County Justice Court through the county courthouse channel. If no number is printed, call the county at 601.964.8370 or the Circuit Clerk for routing.
- If it names a municipal court, contact that town. Beaumont's town phone is 601.784.3352 and Beaumont Police is 601.784.3781. New Augusta and Richton court contacts were not located, so use the town office on the ticket.
- Ask whether payment by mail, in person, by phone, or online is allowed. Do not assume online payment is offered.
- Ask whether the citation requires an appearance, especially for DUI, reckless driving, no insurance, license issues, CDL charges, or crash cases.
- To contest, ask how to enter a not-guilty plea and how to request or reschedule a hearing.
- Do not skip the date. Missing court can trigger a bench warrant or a failure-to-appear, so confirm consequences with the issuing court.
- If the case was appealed from Justice Court, contact the Circuit Clerk, because Circuit Court handles those appeals.
Note: deadlines and appearance rules come straight from the issuing court, so confirm both the due date and the accepted payment method before the hearing.
Court Traffic Records vs State Driver Records
Two different files track the same ticket, and people often confuse them. The court traffic record is the case file held by the court that handled the citation. The state driver record is a separate file kept through Mississippi driver services and Department of Public Safety channels, showing license status and convictions reported to the driving history. A serious DUI adds a third file in the criminal court system. The comparison below sorts what each one is and is not.
| Feature | Court Traffic Record | State Driver Record | Criminal DUI Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where to get it | Justice Court, municipal court, or Circuit appeal file | Mississippi driver services / DPS channel | Criminal court, the clerk, and MEC |
| What it shows | Citation, charge, court date, plea, disposition, fine, and warrant entries if public | License status, convictions reported to the record, suspensions, and points or status | DUI charge, plea, sentence, probation or treatment, and specialty court if applicable |
| What it is not | Not a complete driving history | Not the full court case file | Not just a traffic ticket |
To correct an error, work the matching source. Fix a case detail with the court that holds the file. Fix a license or conviction entry through the state driver services channel that maintains the driver record.
Public Access Laws for Perry County Traffic Records
Traffic case records are public records in the same way other court files are, unless a specific law restricts them. A reader generally starts with the office that keeps the record rather than a statewide search. Youth Court traffic matters, sealed cases, and personal identifiers like license and account numbers are restricted or redacted.
Key Statutes:
Mississippi Code § 25-61-1 et seq. - the Public Records Act makes court records open for inspection unless an exemption applies.
Mississippi Judiciary public-records policy - sets how requests for records held by the courts are handled.
For an electronically filed Circuit appeal, public online access runs through the Mississippi Electronic Courts system and its PAMEC registration. Lower-court traffic files that are not online come straight from the issuing court by request.
DUI and DWI Cases in Perry County
A DUI is not a routine ticket. It is a criminal charge, so it can leave the traffic track and run through the criminal court instead of Justice or municipal traffic handling. The case file then carries the charge, the plea, the sentence, and any probation or treatment terms.
Perry County sits in the Twelfth Circuit Drug-DUI-Veterans Court, which serves Forrest and Perry Counties. Its DUI track is an accountability program for offenders who plead guilty, built on a three-year, four-phase model with treatment, screenings, and regular court appearances. Entry is not automatic and follows evaluation and approval. For the full charge, plea, and sentence detail, see the Perry County criminal court records.
CDL and Commercial Driver Traffic Records
Commercial drivers face stricter handling than ordinary motorists. A CDL ticket more often demands a court appearance, and many commercial violations carry federal reporting duties that flow to the state driver record. The county did not publish a local CDL policy, so the issuing court is the right place to confirm whether an appearance is required and how a conviction is reported.
Note: a CDL holder should ask the issuing court directly whether any plea option exists, since commercial cases are reported even when a private driver might avoid a record entry.
Deferred Adjudication and Defensive Driving
Many states let a driver take a defensive-driving course or accept deferred adjudication to keep a ticket off the record. Perry County did not publish a local defensive-driving or deferred-adjudication option for traffic cases. No county fine schedule, course list, or eligibility rule was located in official sources.
Because the option is not documented, ask the court that holds your citation whether it offers any course or held-disposition path, what it costs, and how it affects the driving record. Do not assume one exists until the court confirms it.
Sealing or Expunging Perry County Traffic Records
Some Mississippi convictions and non-adjudications can be petitioned for expungement, but eligibility is statutory and offense-specific. There is no automatic clearing of a traffic record. The path starts with the court of conviction, which for a county traffic case is usually the Justice or municipal court, or the Circuit appeal file if the matter was bound over.
Eligibility under Miss. Code Section 99-19-71 turns on the offense type, the disposition, any waiting period, and the prior record. A person generally files a petition in the court where the conviction or non-adjudication occurred, pays any required fee, gives notice if required, and keeps certified copies of the order. The Perry County Circuit Clerk can route an appeal or bound-over traffic file, while confirming eligibility is best done with counsel.
Fees for Perry County Traffic Record Copies
Clerks charge for record copies, but Perry County did not publish a traffic-specific fee chart. No online fine schedule, copy rate, or search fee for traffic cases was located in official sources, so a fee table cannot be stated here without inventing numbers. Costs for plain copies, certified copies, and any search are confirmed with the court that holds the file.
For a state driving history rather than a court case copy, the request runs through the Mississippi driver services channel, which sets its own fee. When you call the issuing court, ask for the copy cost, the accepted payment method, and whether the file is public, sealed, or available only through the electronic court system.