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.
Rankin County, Mississippi, has about 161,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A DUI arrest in Rankin County 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: Rankin County public records, Rankin County arrest records, Rankin County warrants, Rankin County inmate search, Rankin County criminal records, Mississippi arrest records and Mississippi inmate search.
The DUI Law in Mississippi
Drunk driving is charged as DUI in Mississippi, at a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or more.
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 Rankin County
The Rankin County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Pearl, Brandon, Flowood, Richland, Florence, Pelahatchie and one more cities make the DUI arrests in Rankin County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Rankin County: Pearl Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division (state agency).
Together, the seven agencies in Rankin County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 8,823 arrests to the FBI that year, all offenses together; the FBI's count for Rankin County does not break DUI out.
The Jackson Police Department is listed by the FBI across three counties including Rankin County, so its arrests are not broken out for Rankin County here.
Booking After a DUI Arrest in Rankin County
A driver arrested for DUI and kept in custody goes to the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest. The jail, run by the Rankin County Sheriff's Office, held about 470 people on an average day in 2023 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at www2.rankincounty.org/so/inmate/current.php, phone (601) 825-1479. The Rankin County inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
The Court Case
A DUI charge from Rankin County 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 rankincounty.org/department, phone 601.608.0056.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at rankincounty.org/department/index.php?structureid=41, phone (601) 824-2668. That page belongs to a lower court, the Justice Court and County Court, not to the Rankin 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: Rankin County arrest records, Rankin County police reports and Rankin County court records.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the DUI limit in Mississippi?
0.08 percent blood alcohol.
Where is a DUI case from Rankin County heard?
In the Justice Court or a municipal court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at rankincounty.org.
Where is a person arrested for DUI in Rankin County held?
At the county jail, run by the Rankin 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 Rankin 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.