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 on September 24, 2026.
Lamar County, Mississippi, has about 67,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lamar 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 Lamar 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: Lamar County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lamar County
The Lamar County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lamar County. It reported 470 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Sumrall, 2,172 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2025.
- Purvis, 1,955 residents: 38 arrests reported for 2024.
- Lumberton, 1,647 residents: 45 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.
The Hattiesburg Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Lamar County, so its arrests are not broken out for Lamar County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lamar County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Lamar County Sheriff's Office: 470 for 2025, 528 for 2024, 348 for 2022, 361 for 2021, 528 for 2020 and 850 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Lumberton: 45 for 2025, 11 for 2024 and 1 for 2023.
- Sumrall: 3 for 2025, 24 for 2024, 23 for 2023, 10 for 2022 and 19 for 2021.
- Purvis: 38 for 2024, 31 for 2023 and 21 for 2022.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 518 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 518 in 2025 against 563 in 2024, down 8 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 323 arrests, against 322 in the same months of 2025.
Purvis reported only part of 2025 (7 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lamar County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lamar County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 86 people, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 164 beds, and it ran at 73 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Lamar County
For Lamar County the place to look is the case index of the Lamar County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.ms.gov).
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 Lamar 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 Lamar County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Sumrall, Purvis or Lumberton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lamar County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courts.ms.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Criminal Information Center.
Cities in Lamar County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Lamar County: Sumrall, Purvis and Lumberton.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Lamar County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lamar County each year?
The Lamar County Sheriff's Office reported 470 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 518 between them.
Where are people arrested in Lamar County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lamar County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lamar County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Lamar 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 Lamar County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lamar 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 Lamar 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.