Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and October 1, 2026.
Columbus, Mississippi, in Lowndes County, has about 23,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A DUI arrest in Columbus starts two cases, a criminal case in the Justice Court or a municipal court and a license case before the Department of Public Safety, and leaves three records. This guide follows the arrest from the roadside to the court file and the driving record.
This guide covers the law, the arrest, booking, the court case, the license case, the records and common questions.
Related guides: Columbus public records, Lowndes County DUI, Columbus arrest records, Columbus warrants, Columbus inmate search, Columbus criminal records, Mississippi arrest records and Mississippi inmate search.
The DUI Law in Mississippi
In Mississippi the offense is DUI, and the limit is 0.08.
Driving in Mississippi is consent to a breath or blood test when an officer has cause to suspect DUI; the license case that follows a refusal or a failed test is run by the Department of Public Safety, separately from the criminal case.
Who Makes DUI Arrests in Columbus
The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Columbus (filed by the FBI as Columbus Police Department) make the DUI arrests in and around Columbus.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lowndes County: East Mississippi Community College at Communiversity and Mississippi University for Women (campus police).
Together, the three agencies in Lowndes County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 965 arrests to the FBI that year, all offenses together; the FBI's count for Lowndes County does not break DUI out.
Booking After a DUI Arrest in Columbus
A driver arrested for DUI and kept in custody goes to the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest. The jail, run by the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, held about 190 people on an average day in 2019 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a jail page SearchSystems verified at lowndes-so.org. The Columbus inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
The Court Case
A DUI charge from Columbus is heard in the Justice Court or a municipal court; the District Attorney or, in a municipal court, the city's own prosecutor brings it.
The District Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at msda16.org, phone 662-329-5911.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at lowndescountyms.com/177/Lowndes-County-Courts, phone 662-329-5884. That page belongs to a lower court, the Justice Court and County Court, not to the Lowndes County Circuit Court.
Mississippi has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The License Case
The court case is only half the record. The Department of Public Safety runs a separate administrative case over the license, which can suspend it before the criminal case is decided, and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Driver Service Bureau keeps the driving record the conviction goes on.
The Records a DUI Leaves
- The arrest report: from the agency that made the arrest, under the Mississippi Public Records Act.
- The court file: from the Justice Court or a municipal court, kept by the Circuit Clerk for criminal and civil cases and the Chancery Clerk for divorces, estates and land records.
- The driving record: from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Driver Service Bureau.
More on each: Columbus arrest records and Columbus court records.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the DUI limit in Mississippi?
0.08 percent blood alcohol.
Where is a DUI case from Columbus heard?
In the Justice Court or a municipal court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at lowndescountyms.com/177/Lowndes-County-Courts.
Where is a person arrested for DUI in Columbus held?
At the county jail, run by the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
Who handles the license after a DUI arrest in Mississippi?
The Department of Public Safety, in an administrative case separate from the court case.
Is this the official Columbus website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.