Simpson County Court Calendars Explained
Simpson County layers its calendar information across several sources. The Secretary of State's 2026 Judiciary Directory and Court Calendar publishes the official Circuit and Chancery terms. Justice Court posts a recurring hearing schedule instead. One case docket might hold a notice of setting. It might also hold a hearing, a continuance, a trial, a plea, or sentencing. Municipal contacts tell you which court handles a matter. Still, the cities offer no unified daily court calendar. Each layer answers a different question about a court date.
Treat the annual directory as a term structure, not a live settings portal. A docket entry can also lag behind a later reset or signed order. So read the newest dated entry first. Then verify the date and the court with the right clerk. The court named on your citation, summons, notice, or order decides which calendar path applies. The Secretary of State Judiciary Directory and Court Calendar page opens the official annual publication itself.
That directory page links to the annual term publication. It gives no case number, no hearing result, and no live daily docket for Simpson County.
Simpson County Daily Settings Portal
Simpson County offers no anonymous daily-settings portal. The public Circuit and Chancery MEC pages demand PAMEC credentials before any case information appears. The annual PDF has no date picker, no case-number search, and no attorney filters. You can scroll the PDF as a document. But it is not a rolling county docket. It will not announce every individual hearing.
So work in a practical order. Pull out the case paperwork first. Then use authorized MEC access for a participating Circuit or Chancery case. Or call the court that holds the matter. For Justice Court or a city case, the citation and the clerk's contact are the lead channels. A general online search is never a safe stand-in for confirmation from the specific court.
Key point. The 2026 PDF supplies terms, not a public feed of individual case settings. A term date is not a hearing notice.
Finding Your Court Date
Begin with the newest citation, summons, notice, order, or docket entry. That document should give you the court. It should also give the case or citation number, the date, the time, and any courtroom instruction. Next, sort out which court you are in. Circuit handles felony, general civil, and appeal records. Chancery covers family, probate, equity, land, youth, and commitment matters. Justice Court takes traffic cases, misdemeanors, and civil claims up to its stated limit.
- Read the latest paper for the court, case number, date, time, and setting description.
- For a participating Circuit or Chancery case, use authorized PAMEC access and locate the newest notice of setting, hearing, or reset entry.
- Compare a Circuit or Chancery date with the annual term calendar only for term context.
- Call Justice Court at 601-847-5848 for a traffic, misdemeanor, or Justice civil setting.
- Call Circuit Clerk Witt Fortenberry at 601-847-2474 or Chancery Clerk Tim Gray at 601-847-2626 when the court record needs confirmation.
- For a city matter, contact Magee at 601-849-3344, Mendenhall at 601-847-1212, or D’Lo at 601-847-1721 and ask which court owns the case.
No official Simpson source confirms a courthouse public terminal. Ask the clerk whether one exists and what it can display. If you have counsel, ask which current order controls the case. When a date is still uncertain, request a current docket sheet or written confirmation from the clerk's office.
Simpson County Justice Court Rhythm
The official Simpson County Justice Court page posts a steady rhythm. Misdemeanor and traffic hearings fall on the first and second Tuesdays and Thursdays of each month. Civil cases are heard on the third and fourth Tuesdays. Remember that a recurring schedule never promises your particular case is set on a listed day. The county also tells defendants to call about ten days before court. That call can learn a fine amount or request a trial.
Use the published pattern to see where a Justice Court date might fit. Then confirm the individual setting with Clerk Joyce Hicks at 601-847-5848. The court publishes no finer setting-code list. It posts no daily courtroom list and no countywide online case calendar. An old citation deserves a check against the clerk's current information. A payment, a trial request, or a prior reset can shift the schedule.
Justice Court Date Confirmation
Justice Court Clerk Joyce Hicks
1498 Simpson Hwy 149, Mendenhall, MS 39114
601-847-5848
How to Read a Court Setting
A court setting is simply a scheduled event in a case. It might be an arraignment, a motion hearing, a status conference, docket call, a trial, a plea, sentencing, or a civil hearing. Always read the setting alongside its court, date, time, judge, and location. Read any later docket entries too. A date without the court or the event type tells only half the story. A trial term or docket call is not a guaranteed individual trial date, either.
| Date | The scheduled calendar date in the notice, order, or latest docket entry. |
|---|---|
| Time | The stated appearance time; a docket call can differ from a later individual hearing time. |
| Court and location | The court that owns the case and any courtroom or address shown by the current notice. |
| Judge or chancellor | The presiding court official if the docket or order identifies one. |
| Setting type | For example, arraignment, hearing, trial, plea, sentencing, civil hearing, or docket call. |
| Later entry | A reset, continuance, signed order, or clerk confirmation that may replace an earlier date. |
For Circuit Court, district information says criminal trials are set at docket call and civil trials by agreed order or motion. The exact labels behind the MEC login are not publicly visible, so rely on the wording of the actual notice rather than guessing at a portal abbreviation.
Simpson County 2026 Court Terms
The 2026 Judiciary Directory spells out Simpson Circuit terms in blocks. The fourth Tuesday in February opens one civil week. The first Monday in March brings four Grand Jury weeks, the second Monday in May one week, and the first Monday in July two. Then the first Tuesday in September starts six Grand Jury weeks. Check the full official PDF for the complete term line, since updates land there first. A term is only a block of court time. It does not promise your case will be called on day one.
Simpson Chancery terms follow the same annual calendar. Terms begin the fourth Monday in January, the first Monday in February, the fifth Monday in March, and the second Monday in April. Each term is listed for six days. More terms appear in the PDF. Like Circuit terms, these dates are just the frame. The individual Chancery docket, a notice, an order, or word from the clerk sets the date that actually governs your case.
- Civil term
- A listed Circuit block for civil court work, not an individual case notice.
- Grand Jury term
- A Circuit calendar label distinct from a public trial setting for a named case.
- Docket call
- A court session where case readiness and settings are addressed.
- Notice of setting
- The case-specific notice that an event has been placed on the court calendar.
Note: When a future term matters, pull the current annual PDF instead of working from any copied date list.
Continuances, Resets, and Cancellations
A continuance or reset is a docket event, not a vanishing hearing. Keep your original notice, then hunt down the newest notice, order, or docket entry. The current setting is the most recent signed order or clerk-confirmed date. That beats a cached PDF or an old letter every time. A cancellation can stem from a reset, court action, or a different setting arrangement. Confirm it with the court.
Thirteenth Circuit general information names court administrators as the live calendar route. It points you to the right judge's administrator. That person handles settings of cases or motions. The directory lists no separate Simpson-specific coordinator number. Call Circuit Clerk Witt Fortenberry at 601-847-2474, or Chancery Clerk Tim Gray at 601-847-2626. Justice or municipal matters go through the clerk or city contact instead.
If a notice clashes with clerk information, ask for the date, time, court, and courtroom. Also ask the source of the current setting. Get it in writing. A current docket sheet beats any general term schedule.
Simpson County Setting Channels
Three channels work together for a Simpson County court date. The individual case docket may show a notice of setting or a hearing. It may show a reset or an order. The annual Judiciary Directory PDF shows the Circuit or Chancery term. Court may sit only within that term. The clerk or court-administrator route confirms current case-specific information. Each channel has a limit. So check with the court that has the case before substituting one for another.
| Channel | What it can show | What it cannot settle alone |
|---|---|---|
| Case docket or order | Individual events, settings, and later resets where accessible | Whether an unclear or older entry remains current |
| 2026 annual PDF | Circuit and Chancery term dates, lengths, and purposes | The date, time, and courtroom for a particular case |
| Clerk or administrator | Current court-specific confirmation and request routing | A substitute for the signed case record when a copy is needed |
The Secretary of State publications page publishes the official calendar materials.
Use that publications resource to pull the current official calendar. For an individual hearing confirmation, the case clerk is still the route.
If You Miss a Court Setting
Act fast and call the court or clerk that owns the case. For Circuit or Chancery matters, pair the case notice with the Circuit Clerk or Chancery Clerk contact. Then ask for the current setting. Ask for the correct procedure too. Justice Court traffic or misdemeanor cases go to Clerk Joyce Hicks. A municipal case belongs with the city court or its clerk. The court file shows what event was scheduled. It also shows whether another order has been entered. It beats any general calendar page.
Missed setting. A missed criminal setting can lead to a failure-to-appear entry, bench warrant, or bond consequence, depending on the case and court action.
Confirm the current court date and follow the instructions of the court or a licensed attorney who represents a party in the case.
Simpson County posts no standing Zoom link, general remote-appearance rule, weather-closure page, or universal holiday-reset policy. No single notice covers these. Confirm any remote-appearance or closure instruction directly with the court before you rely on it.
Simpson County Municipal Date Routing
Municipal contacts are not swap-ins for county Justice Court. Magee, Mendenhall, and D'Lo all carry municipal entries in the current 2026 directory. Ask whether a citation is municipal. Ask whether it moved on appeal, and which court controls the current date. Magee City Hall sits at 601-849-3344. Mendenhall City Hall is at 601-847-1212. The D'Lo directory line is 601-847-1721.
Magee's nCourt payment route is not a public calendar or docket system. Mendenhall City Hall service hours are not court session dates. The directory contacts route you, but no daily municipal calendar exists there. If the venue is unclear, lean on the citation, the issuing agency, and clerk confirmation. Confirm before you travel to any court location.