Covington County Chancery Clerk

About the Covington County Chancery Clerk

Guy Easterling serves as the Covington County Chancery Clerk, an elected county officer. The clerk's duties are fixed by state statute, court rules, State Department of Audit procedures, and Department of Finance and Administration procedures. The county calls this one of the most unique and diverse offices in Mississippi government. That reach is real. One office touches land titles, court files, county money, and the official record of the Board of Supervisors. Few public officers handle so many separate record sets under one roof. Most residents meet the office through a deed, an estate, or a request for a certified copy.

The office runs out of the county government cluster in Collins, the county seat. Walk-in help, mailed requests, and phone calls all reach the same staff. Full details appear on the county Chancery Clerk page.

What the Chancery Clerk Does in Covington County

Few county offices wear as many hats. The job splits into broad roles, and each role is tied to a different set of records. As public recorder, the clerk stores and indexes documents about real property. As Clerk of Chancery Court, the office holds the county's equity and family case files. As Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, the clerk writes down what the board decides. As County Treasurer, the office handles county money.

• Records deeds and mortgages on real property, plus construction and condominium liens, federal tax liens, lis pendens notices, and military discharges.
• Acts as Clerk of Chancery Court for estates, guardianships, conservatorships, divorce, custody, adoption, and property disputes.
• Serves as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and records the county's official board minutes.
• Works as County Treasurer, preparing claims dockets and payrolls, then signing checks after the board approves them.
• Stores and authorizes disposal of older land rolls, tax receipts, and county records past their active life.

The recorder role is the public-facing one most people use. Indexes help researchers find a deed, a lien, or a discharge without flipping through every book by hand. The court role and the treasurer role draw fewer walk-ins but cover heavier files.

Note: The same Chancery Clerk staff also maintains the indexes that point researchers to the correct book and page for older land records.

Covington County Land Records Online

The Chancery Clerk offers internet access to the index of the Official Land Records through Chancery Records Online. The portal lets you browse the land-record index from home rather than driving to the courthouse counter. Two applications sit behind the landing page: Official Land Records and Board Minutes. The land tool is an index search, not a full document library, so it points you to where a record lives.

The online index carries a firm warning. It is not the official index. Only the Land Records Index kept in the courthouse counts as official. Users also agree to a liability and indemnity disclaimer before searching. Treat the web index as a finding aid, not as proof of title. The landing page also lists the office hours, address, phone, and fax for follow-up.

Searching Covington County Board Minutes

The Board Minutes application is the most open tool the office runs. It is a free public search with no login and no fee to look. The minutes record what the Board of Supervisors decided at its meetings, which makes them a window into county spending, contracts, and policy. Residents, reporters, and bidders all use them to track public business.

The search form gives several ways to narrow results. You can pick a date range, type a book and page, or run a keyword. The keyword and minute-line fields cannot run at the same time. Selecting a result opens the meeting details and the scanned pages. The field set is listed below.

How to Search Land Records and Board Minutes

Both portals open from the same Chancery Records Online landing page. The steps below run the board-minutes tool and mirror the land-index path. A selected meeting shows the date, title, notes, status, line items, and the scanned pages, which you can view or email as a PDF.

1. Open Chancery Records Online and choose Official Land Records or Board Minutes.
2. For minutes, set the date range: last 12 months, last 2 years, or all records.
3. Add a keyword from the meeting description, or enter a book and page if you have one.
4. Click Search Meeting Minutes and review the result list.
5. Click a row to open the meeting date, title, notes, line items, and scanned pages.
6. Use the viewer to zoom or page through, then view or email the page as a PDF.

For land records, expect an index lookup rather than a full document image. Confirm anything you find against the courthouse index before you rely on it.

Note: The land-record tool loads its search screen dynamically, so allow a moment for the form to appear before you start typing.

Chancery Clerk vs Circuit Clerk in Covington County

Covington County splits its clerk work between two elected offices. People often mail a request to the wrong one. The Chancery Clerk and the Circuit Clerk hold different records, sit at different counters, and use different phone lines. Sending an estate question to the Circuit Clerk, or a marriage-license question to the Chancery Clerk, only adds delay.

The short rule is simple. Equity, family, land, and county business go to the Chancery Clerk. Lawsuits, juries, marriage licenses, and criminal filings go to the Covington County Circuit Clerk. The table sorts the most common requests.

Chancery Court Records Kept by the Clerk

As Clerk of Chancery Court, this office files the paperwork for the county's equity cases. Chancery Court handles divorce, child custody, adoption, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, property-title disputes, and commitments of people who cannot care for themselves. The clerk receives, stamps, indexes, and stores each filing. Registered users can view eligible Chancery Court filings online through Mississippi Electronic Courts, while restricted categories stay off remote access.

An estate file alone can hold a long stack of documents. The list below shows what a probate or estate file often contains.

• Petition to probate a will or to administer an estate
• Letters testamentary or letters of administration
• Notice to creditors and an inventory of assets
• Annual and final accountings
• Guardianship and conservatorship petitions, bonds, and orders
• Final decree closing the estate

Some of these files are open to the public, while adoption, sealed, and mental-health matters are confidential. The county's probate records walk through the estate steps in more detail.

Note: Older Chancery Court files may not be digitized, so a phone call or counter visit is often faster than a portal search for decades-old cases.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy carries the clerk's seal and proves a document is a true copy of the original. Courts, title companies, banks, and agencies often require certified copies, not plain printouts. An uncertified page from the online index will not stand in for one. The steps below keep a request moving.

1. Identify the record: a deed book and page, an estate or case style, or a board-minute date.
2. Confirm the Chancery Clerk holds it. Land records, estates, divorce, and board minutes are this office's records.
3. Call the clerk to confirm the copy fee and accepted payment before you mail or visit.
4. Submit the request in person, by mail to the PO box, or through a clerk-arranged channel, with the document details and your contact information.
5. Pay the certification and copy charges the clerk quotes.
6. Pick up the certified copy at the counter or wait for it by mail.

For court files, ask whether the case is open or confidential before you request copies, since the clerk cannot release sealed material.

Public Records Law for Covington County Records

Most records this clerk keeps are public under Mississippi's Public Records Act. The Act gives any person the right to inspect or copy nonexempt public records. A public body should answer within set timelines and may charge the actual cost of the work. The same law lets the office adopt written request procedures.

Access without written procedures should come within one working day. Production or a written denial generally should come within seven working days unless the office explains a delay. Fees may cover actual search, review, duplication, redaction, and mailing costs, and the office may collect them in advance.

The Act also allows redaction and exemptions. Sealed, youth, adoption, and certain family and personal records can be withheld. When a file mixes open and exempt material, the clerk releases the open parts and protects the rest. Court rules can add their own limits on case files.

Note: Incident reports are public under the Act even when a broader investigative file is exempt, which matters when a county record overlaps a law enforcement matter.

Covington County Chancery Clerk Fees

No public fee schedule for the Covington County Chancery Clerk was found online. The county website and forms page do not post copy, certified-copy, search, or filing fees for this office. The amounts below are marked as not located for that reason. Call the clerk to confirm before you mail a request or arrive for copies.

Fees can change, and the clerk sets the current charges.