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). Every warrant for Rankin County comes from a judge of the Rankin County Circuit Court or the Justice Court and County Court, is served by whichever agency finds the person, and is recorded in the court file of the case it was issued in. This guide says who issues and serves warrants here, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one and how one is cleared.
This guide covers who issues warrants, who serves warrants, after a warrant arrest, checking for a warrant, clearing a warrant and common questions.
Related guides: Rankin County public records, Rankin County arrest records, Rankin County inmate search, Rankin County criminal records, Rankin County court records, Mississippi arrest records and Mississippi inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Rankin County
In Mississippi an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Rankin County that means the Rankin County Circuit Court, which hears felonies and the larger civil cases; the Justice Court and County Court issue their own warrants on the cases before them. A city with a municipal court of its own issues warrants on the tickets and ordinance cases it tries.
When a defendant misses a court date the judge issues a bench warrant, and either kind of warrant lives in the court file of the case, kept by the Circuit Clerk for criminal and civil cases and the Chancery Clerk for divorces, estates and land records.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at rankincounty.org/department/index.php?structureid=41 (page title: Justice Court | Rankin County, Mississippi), phone (601) 824-2668, 201 North St Brandon, MS 39042, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026. 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.
Who Serves Warrants 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 serve warrants in Rankin County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Rankin County: Pearl Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division (state agency); it serves warrants on its own ground.
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 agency that serves a warrant from Rankin County is whichever one finds the person; an Mississippi warrant is valid across Mississippi.
Together, the seven agencies in Rankin County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 8,823 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Rankin County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Rankin County Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant 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.
A person arrested in Rankin County on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Rankin County
Whether a warrant is out from Rankin County shows in three places:
- The court file of the case, through the Circuit Clerk for criminal and civil cases and the Chancery Clerk for divorces, estates and land records at (601) 824-2668, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
- The District Attorney, phone 601.608.0056, which can say whether charges were filed; a warrant on a complaint follows the filing.
- The custody page of the Rankin County Sheriff's Office at www2.rankincounty.org/so/inmate/current.php, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
Not one of the Rankin County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's, the court's, the prosecutor's and the records request page) is a list of open warrants, so a check means asking the court or the prosecutor about a case by name.
The statewide criminal history kept by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Criminal Information Center is not open to the public in Mississippi, so it is not a route to a warrant check on someone else.
Clearing a Warrant from Rankin County
A warrant is recalled by the court that issued it, so clearing one from Rankin County starts with the Circuit Clerk for criminal and civil cases and the Chancery Clerk for divorces, estates and land records at (601) 824-2668: the case goes back on the calendar and the judge recalls the warrant when the person appears.
A missed date in a case before the Justice Court and County Court is handled by that court, not by the Rankin County Circuit Court.
A lawyer can often arrange the appearance in advance. The District Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at rankincounty.org/department, phone 601.608.0056.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Rankin County?
Not from the Rankin County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. The court file is the record of a warrant: ask the Circuit Clerk for criminal and civil cases and the Chancery Clerk for divorces, estates and land records at (601) 824-2668.
Who serves warrants in Rankin County?
The Rankin County Sheriff's Office, and the agency that reports for the city where the person is found; an Mississippi warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Rankin County held?
At the county jail, run by the Rankin County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Rankin County cleared?
By appearing before the court that issued it; the judge recalls the warrant in court. The case is put back on the calendar through the Circuit Clerk for criminal and civil cases and the Chancery Clerk for divorces, estates and land records at (601) 824-2668.
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.