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.
Pearl River County, Mississippi, has about 59,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Pearl River County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one campus agency. 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 Pearl River 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: Pearl River County public records, Mississippi arrest records, Mississippi inmate search and Mississippi criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Pearl River County
The Pearl River County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Pearl River County. It reported 889 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Picayune, 12,017 residents: 593 arrests reported for 2025.
- Poplarville, 2,898 residents: 122 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 Lumberton Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Pearl River County, so its arrests are not broken out for Pearl River County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Pearl River County: Pearl River Community College at Poplarville (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Pearl River 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.
- Pearl River County Sheriff's Office: 889 for 2025, 667 for 2024, 574 for 2023 and 503 for 2022.
- Picayune: 593 for 2025, 733 for 2023 and 541 for 2022; 2024 is missing months.
- Poplarville: 122 for 2025, 120 for 2024, 173 for 2023 and 180 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,604 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,011 in 2025 against 787 in 2024, up 28 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 634 arrests, against 757 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pearl River County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Pearl River 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 210 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 360 beds, and it ran at 57 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 Pearl River County Sheriff's Office at pearlrivercounty.net/222/County-Jail (page title: County Jail | Pearl River County, MS), phone 601-403-2538, 171 Savannah Millard Road Poplarville, MS 39470, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Pearl River County
For Pearl River County the place to look is the case index of the Pearl River County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at pearlrivercounty.net/195/Circuit-Court, phone 601-576-4650).
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 Pearl River 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 Pearl River County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 601-403-2538.
- An arrest in Picayune or Poplarville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Pearl River Community College at Poplarville: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Pearl River County Circuit Court, through the court records page at pearlrivercounty.net/195/Circuit-Court, phone 601-576-4650.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at pearlriver.lib.ms.us/prq (page title: Public Records Request | Pearl River County Library System).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Criminal Information Center.
Cities in Pearl River County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Pearl River County: Picayune and Poplarville.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Pearl River County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Pearl River County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Picayune (12,017)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pearl River County each year?
The Pearl River County Sheriff's Office reported 889 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,604 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Pearl River County?
Ask the Pearl River County Sheriff's Office at 601-403-2538; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at pearlrivercounty.net/222/County-Jail.
Where are people arrested in Pearl River County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pearl River County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pearl River County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Pearl River 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 Pearl River County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pearl River 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at pearlriver.lib.ms.us/prq.
Is this the official Pearl River 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.