Contact the Claiborne County Circuit Clerk

About the Claiborne County Circuit Clerk

Gale Compton serves as the Claiborne County Circuit Clerk. The office is the Clerk of the County and Circuit Courts. It is the front door for most criminal and civil court files in the county. Circuit Court is the general trial court for felonies and jury civil suits. It also hears appeals from the lower courts. The Circuit Court jurisdiction statute, Section 9-7-81, gives that court original power over law-side cases not assigned elsewhere, and the Circuit Clerk holds those filings.

The office mails through a post office box in Port Gibson, the county seat. The courthouse offices sit on Market Street. The county courts page and the state MEC pages list slightly different building numbers, so confirm the suite and entrance before you travel.

You can confirm the clerk's name, address, and phone on the official Claiborne County Circuit Clerk page, which also lists the office duties.

That page is the controlling local source for the office. Use the contact card below to call or mail the Circuit Clerk during weekday hours.

What the Claiborne County Circuit Clerk Does

The Circuit Clerk wears many hats. The office takes in court papers, manages the case files, and issues the court's process. It also runs jury and election duties that have nothing to do with a single lawsuit. The county FAQ routes a long list of questions to this office. That list covers criminal history, civil litigation, tax liens, jury duty, voter registration, and marriage licenses. The main duties break down like this.

• Clerk of the County and Circuit Courts for Claiborne County.
• Files lawsuits, indictments, motions, and related papers in civil and criminal cases.
• Issues process, including summonses and subpoenas.
• Draws jurors and qualifies juries for court terms.
• Keeps records of judgments and executions.
• Issues marriage licenses and keeps marriage records.
• Records medical and professional licenses.
• Registers voters and handles other election duties.

So the same office that files a felony indictment can also hand you a marriage license or a voter form. That breadth is normal for a Mississippi Circuit Clerk.

Circuit Clerk vs Chancery Clerk in Claiborne County

Claiborne County splits its clerk work between two offices. New visitors often call the wrong one and lose a day. The simple rule is that the Circuit Clerk holds law-side cases, while the Chancery Clerk holds equity, family, and land matters. A felony, a circuit civil suit, or a marriage license is a Circuit Clerk job. A divorce, an estate, a deed, or a guardianship is a Chancery Clerk job. The table below sorts the common requests.

For the second office and its land, divorce, and estate records, see the page for the Claiborne County Chancery Clerk. Both offices keep weekday hours in Port Gibson.

Searching Claiborne County Circuit Court Records Online

The county does not run its own free case search. Public online viewing of Circuit Court files runs through PAMEC, the public side of Mississippi Electronic Courts. Claiborne County sits in the 23rd Circuit District, which went live on MEC in October 2019. To view files online, a member of the public registers for a PAMEC login, not a filer login. The Circuit Clerk counter and any public courthouse terminal are the no-cost fallback during office hours.

You can start an account on the PAMEC public access registration portal before you try to view any Circuit Court case.

That portal sets up the login a public viewer uses to reach the 23rd Circuit case files. The sign-in screen itself is short, and its fields are listed below. The post-login case-search screen is gated, so its exact field names were not captured and should not be assumed.

A printout from PAMEC is not a certified copy. For a certified copy you still need the Circuit Clerk, which the steps further down explain.

Claiborne County Circuit Clerk Fees

Some costs are set statewide, and some are local. The statewide PAMEC charges are published and fixed. The local certified-copy fee and the local marriage-license fee were not posted on any official county page, so those rows tell you to call. A certified marriage record can also come from the state health department for a set price. The table below collects the figures that research could confirm.

You can review the online charges and pay a PAMEC balance on the PAMEC payment page after you register.

That page is where the annual registration and per-page charges are settled. The counter and the public terminal stay free, so a budget search can skip the online fees.

Requesting Records From the Claiborne County Circuit Clerk

Mississippi treats court and government records as open by default. The Mississippi Public Records Act, Section 25-61-1, says public records are open for inspection unless another law closes them. That right lets you inspect a Claiborne County case file at the counter or ask for copies. There is one catch worth knowing up front. No court-record request form was located on the county forms page.

The forms page carries county and state PDFs such as birth certificate, voter registration, passport, and permit forms, but no certified-copy or case-record request form. You can see the list for yourself on the Claiborne County forms page.

Because no official form exists, the fallback is a phone call, a counter visit, or a plain written request. A mailed or counter request to the Circuit Clerk should give the office enough detail to find the file. Include the items below.

Call ahead so the clerk can confirm the cost and the payment method before you mail anything. The office answers at 601-437-5841 during weekday hours.

How to Request a Certified Copy in Claiborne County

A certified copy carries the clerk's seal and proves the document is a true copy of the court record. Courts, lenders, and agencies often ask for one rather than a plain printout. A PAMEC page or a screenshot will not pass. Only the Circuit Clerk can certify a Circuit Court record. The steps below walk through the process.

1. Identify the case. Gather the party names, the case number if you have it, and the year, so the clerk can locate the file.
2. Call the Circuit Clerk at 601-437-5841 to confirm the certified-copy fee, the payment method, and the office hours before you go or mail.
3. Submit your request. Bring it to the counter at the Market Street courthouse or mail it to P.O. Box 549, Port Gibson, MS 39150.
4. Pay the fee the clerk quotes. Local certified-copy charges are not posted online, so confirm the amount in advance.
5. Pick up the certified copy or wait for it by return mail to the address you supply.

For a felony record you need cleared from public view, the certified copy and case details also support an expungement petition filed with this same office. Day-to-day case events behind a file appear in the county court records, not in a single certified document.

Marriage Licenses at the Claiborne County Circuit Clerk

The Circuit Clerk issues marriage licenses and keeps the county's marriage records. The marriage-record custodian role is backed by Section 93-1-23, which supports the clerk's duty to hold the marriage-license records. Couples apply through this office, not the Chancery Clerk. The county FAQ lists older requirements, such as a photo ID, a blood-test receipt dated within the last 30 days, and a parent's signature for an applicant under 21. That blood-test language may be stale, so call the clerk before you rely on it.

Later certified marriage copies can come from the Circuit Clerk or from the Mississippi State Department of Health. The state agency keeps records from county officials and can search for the county where the license was issued. A mailed state request costs $17 and avoids the added online service fee. For a county-issued copy, the Circuit Clerk counter is the direct route.