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 September 30, 2026.
Covington County, Mississippi, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Covington County Sheriff's Office and three city agencies. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Covington County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Covington County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Covington County
The Covington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Covington County.
The FBI lists three cities in Covington County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Collins, 2,241 residents: 93 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mount Olive, 883 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Seminary, 293 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Covington County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Mount Olive: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Collins: 93 for 2025, 74 for 2024 and 111 for 2022; 2023 is missing months.
- Seminary: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 1 for 2023, 1 for 2022 and 0 for 2021.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,245 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,245 in 2025 against 1,226 in 2024, up 1.5 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 567 arrests, against 617 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Covington County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Covington County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 53 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 84 beds, and it ran at 63 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Covington County Sheriff's Office at covingtoncountyms.gov/government/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Covington County | Mississippi), phone 601-765-8281, 1107 Main St. Collins, MS 39428, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Mississippi Department of Corrections lists its inmates at mdoc.ms.gov/inmate_search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Covington County
For Covington County the place to look is the case index of the Covington County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at covingtoncountyms.gov/government/courts, phone 601-765-4242).
Mississippi does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Criminal Information Center goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Covington County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Mississippi Public Records Act the agency must answer within 7 working days, or up to 14 where local rules allow, and it may charge the actual cost of search, review and copying.
- An arrest by the Covington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 601-765-8281.
- An arrest in Collins, Mount Olive or Seminary: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Covington County Circuit Court, through the court records page at covingtoncountyms.gov/government/courts, phone 601-765-4242.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Criminal Information Center.
Cities in Covington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Covington County: Collins, Mount Olive and Seminary.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Covington County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Covington County each year?
Mount Olive reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,245 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Covington County?
Ask the Covington County Sheriff's Office at 601-765-8281; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at covingtoncountyms.gov/government/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Covington County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Covington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Covington County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Covington County Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Criminal Information Center is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Mississippi Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Covington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Covington County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Mississippi Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 working days, or up to 14 where local rules allow.
Is this the official Covington County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.