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 person kept in custody after an arrest in Rankin County is held at the county jail, run by the Rankin County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Rankin County public records, Rankin County arrest records, Rankin County warrants, Rankin County criminal records, Rankin County court records, Mississippi arrest records and Mississippi inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Rankin County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Rankin County is held at the county jail, run by the Rankin County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Rankin County Sheriff's Office at www2.rankincounty.org/so/inmate/current.php (page title: Rankin County Jail | Current Inmates), phone (601) 825-1479, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Rankin County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 470 people, up from about 470 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 650 beds, and it ran at 72 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Rankin County has about 161,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 29 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Rankin County Jail
The Rankin County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Pearl, Brandon, Flowood, Richland, Florence, Pelahatchie and one more cities make the arrests that end in a booking in Rankin County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Rankin County: Pearl Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division (state agency).
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.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Pearl's 3,954 for 2025, Richland's 1,437 for 2025 and Pelahatchie's 1,152 for 2025.
Together, the seven agencies in Rankin County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 8,823 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Rankin County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Rankin County serves the sentence in a facility of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at mdoc.ms.gov/inmate_search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Rankin County?
Look on the custody page of the Rankin County Sheriff's Office at www2.rankincounty.org/so/inmate/current.php, or call (601) 825-1479. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Rankin County jail?
About 470 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 650 beds.
What is the phone number for the Rankin County jail?
(601) 825-1479, the number on the page of the Rankin County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Rankin County go?
To a facility of the Mississippi Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at mdoc.ms.gov/inmate_search.
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.