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 2, 2026.
Petal, Mississippi, in Forrest County, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A DUI arrest in Petal 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: Petal public records, Forrest County DUI, Petal arrest records, Petal warrants, Petal inmate search, Petal 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 Petal
The Forrest County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Petal (filed by the FBI as Petal Police Department) make the DUI arrests in and around Petal.
The FBI's agency list also places two campus police departments, two other agencies and two state agencies in Forrest County (the arrest records guide names each one).
Together, the three agencies in Forrest County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,856 arrests to the FBI that year, all offenses together; the FBI's count for Forrest County does not break DUI out.
Booking After a DUI Arrest in Petal
A driver arrested for DUI and kept in custody goes to the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest. The jail, run by the Forrest County Sheriff's Office, held about 280 people on an average day in 2023 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at forrestcountysheriff.com/inmate-roster. The Petal inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
The Court Case
A DUI charge from Petal 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 court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at forrestcountyms.us/forrest-county-courts, phone (601) 545 6100. That page belongs to a lower court, the Justice Court and County Court, not to the Forrest 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: Petal arrest records, Petal police reports and Petal court records.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the DUI limit in Mississippi?
0.08 percent blood alcohol.
Where is a DUI case from Petal heard?
In the Justice Court or a municipal court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at forrestcountyms.us/forrest-county-courts.
Where is a person arrested for DUI in Petal held?
At the county jail, run by the Forrest 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 Petal 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.