Search Forrest County Circuit Court

Forrest County Circuit Court Overview

The Circuit Court is the busiest trial court in Forrest County. It tries state felony cases, hears major civil lawsuits, and decides appeals that move up from the lower courts. State felonies are the most serious crimes, so this court handles the cases that carry the longest prison terms. Civil lawsuits brought here can involve damages, contracts, property, and other disputes that fall outside the smaller local courts.

The court file is kept by the Circuit Clerk. That docket lists names and parties, pleas, indictments, lower-court records on appeal, and other papers entered and referenced to the minute book. Felony work and civil suits sit side by side on the same docket. Many filings are now electronic, which makes them easier to track. Records that started in a lower court can also land here once a party appeals, so a single case may show two layers of history.

Forrest County sits in the Twelfth Circuit Court District. That district pairs Forrest County with Perry County and shares the same circuit judges. Both counties send their felony and civil-trial work to the same bench.

Twelfth Circuit Judges and Contacts

Two circuit judges lead the Twelfth Circuit Court District, and both keep offices at the Hattiesburg courthouse. The Circuit Clerk holds the docket and handles record copies for the court. The table below lists the current judges, the Circuit Clerk, the shared courthouse address, and direct phone numbers.

Judge Reed and Judge Curry both serve Forrest and Perry Counties. Either judge may be assigned to a felony or civil case from this county. Call ahead to confirm which judge is set on a given matter before a hearing date.

The Twelfth Circuit Court District

The Twelfth Circuit Court District serves Forrest and Perry Counties under two circuit judges. Judge T. Michael Reed was appointed by Governor Tate Reeves to finish the unexpired term of retired Judge Robert B. Helfrich, and his appointment began July 1, 2025. Reed had served as prosecutor for the City of Petal and as municipal judge for Petal and Richton. Judge Wes Curry was appointed to finish the unexpired term of retired Judge Jon Mark Weathers. Curry had served as a Forrest County Justice Court judge for District One and as a Hattiesburg municipal judge.

Case access for this district runs through Mississippi Electronic Courts, known as MEC. Forrest County Circuit Court and Forrest County Court both went live on MEC on July 27, 2020. Lawyers file documents through the system, and the public can search records through the related public-access channel, sometimes for a fee. The Twelfth Circuit MEC information page lists the court's go-live date and helpdesk contacts. The district also runs its own site at 12thcircuitcourt.com, with calendars, forms, felony bond sign-in, drug court details, and standing orders.

The Circuit Clerk, Gwen Wilks, oversees the docket and serves as the keeper of court files for copy requests. Certified copies and case lookups for felony and civil files start with that office. More on records pickup and fees lives on the Circuit Clerk page.

Circuit Court vs County Court vs Justice Court

Mississippi spreads trial work across several courts, so the right venue depends on the type and size of the case. Circuit Court takes the felonies and the larger civil suits. County Court and Justice Court handle narrower or smaller matters. The comparison below shows how the three courts in Forrest County divide the work.

County Court in Forrest County has one judge and also runs the Youth Court. Justice Court splits into four districts and handles small civil claims and low-level criminal matters where punishment stays within a fine and county-jail time. Both courts feed appeals upward to the Circuit Court.

Chancery Court stands apart from all three. It is the equity and domestic court, and it handles divorce, estates, guardianship, conservatorship, land disputes, paternity, adoption, and commitments. Probate-style matters that many people expect in a trial court are Chancery Court work in Mississippi, not Circuit Court work.

How a Case Moves Through the System

A case rarely starts and ends in one court. Smaller matters open in Justice Court or Municipal Court, and County Court handles its own set of cases. When a party loses and appeals, the case climbs to Circuit Court. From there it can move into the state appellate system.

Appeal path: Justice / Municipal Court › County Court › Circuit Court › Mississippi Court of Appeals › Mississippi Supreme Court

Circuit Court sits in the middle of that ladder. It tries felonies and large civil suits as a trial court, and it also reviews appeals from County, Justice, and Municipal courts. After Circuit Court, a party who keeps fighting moves into the Mississippi Court of Appeals or the Mississippi Supreme Court, depending on how the case is assigned. Each step adds new filings to the record, so a single dispute can build a long paper trail across several courts.

Note: Appeals follow strict deadlines, so anyone planning to appeal should confirm filing dates with the clerk of the court that issued the ruling.

Civil and Criminal Cases in Circuit Court

Circuit Court runs both a criminal track and a civil track. On the criminal side, the court tries state felonies and works with the grand jury that returns indictments. The Circuit Clerk docket records pleas, indictments, names and parties, and lower-court papers brought up on appeal. A felony case here can run from indictment through arraignment, pretrial motions, trial or plea, and sentencing.

On the civil side, the court hears lawsuits that fall above the limits of the smaller courts. Civil files can include several types of papers, and knowing the names helps when you read a docket.

• Complaints and answers that open and respond to a suit
• Summons and proof of service on the other party
• Motions asking the judge to rule on an issue
• Orders and judgments that decide the case
• Garnishments and appeal papers tied to the result

A few terms show up again and again on a circuit docket. The short list below explains the most common ones.

Indictment

A grand jury's formal charge that starts a felony case.

Plea

A defendant's formal answer to a charge, such as guilty or not guilty.

Disposition

The final outcome of a charge or a whole case.

Judgment

The court's final decision on liability, debt, or sentence.

Full case files, dockets, and copies for these matters are reached through the Circuit Clerk and the state electronic system. The broader path for pulling any local file is covered on the Forrest County court records page.

Federal Court in Hattiesburg Is Separate

The Forrest County Circuit Court is a state court. It is not the same as the federal court that also meets in Hattiesburg. Federal cases are filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. That court handles federal crimes, federal civil suits, civil rights cases, prisoner petitions, and cases removed from state court when federal law applies. Its records live in a separate system and are not part of the county docket.

The Hattiesburg federal courthouse is the William M. Colmer Federal Building and United States Courthouse, at 701 North Main Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, reached at 601-255-6400. The Hattiesburg federal courthouse page describes the building and its filing division.

The courthouse page makes clear that federal filings for this area route to the district's eastern division. The district court also runs offices in Jackson, Gulfport, and Natchez. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi homepage lists all four court locations and current court news.

That homepage is the front door to the federal system that covers Forrest County, but it points users to a separate database to view actual case files. Federal dockets and documents are found through PACER, the national federal records service.

The PACER federal records portal requires a free account and usually charges a small per-page fee unless a waiver applies. Lawyers file through the related CM/ECF system, while the public mostly searches and views through PACER. Federal custody and transport in these cases can involve the U.S. Marshals Service rather than the county sheriff, and federal appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Note: Use PACER for federal cases and the Circuit Clerk or MEC for state cases, since the two systems never share the same docket.

Appeals From Lower Courts

Circuit Court acts as the appeals court for several lower courts in Forrest County. Decisions from County Court, Justice Court, and Hattiesburg Municipal Court can be appealed up to the Circuit Court. That makes the circuit bench both a trial court and a review court at the same time.

When a lower court record comes up on appeal, the Circuit Clerk docket holds those lower-court papers along with the new filings. A person tracking an appeal should keep the original case number, the deciding court, and the appeal filing date. From the Circuit Court, the next step up is the Mississippi Court of Appeals or the Mississippi Supreme Court. Calendars, motion-hearing dates, and trial settings for the district are posted on the Twelfth Circuit site, which helps parties plan around the court schedule.