Adams County Chancery Clerk Records

About the Adams County Chancery Clerk

Brandi Lewis serves as the Adams County Chancery Clerk. The post is an elected county office based at the courthouse in Natchez. The clerk wears several hats at once. She is the public recorder for real property, the clerk of Chancery Court, and the clerk of the Board of Supervisors. Each role touches a different stack of records that the public may need to view or copy.

This office is not the same as the Circuit Clerk. The Chancery Clerk handles land, liens, estates, guardianships, divorces, and other equity matters. Routine business runs across the counter, by phone, by mail, and by email. For most files, a quick call to confirm what to bring will speed up your visit.

What the Adams County Chancery Clerk Records

The recorder side of this office covers property and money. Deeds and mortgages are filed here, and so are several kinds of liens and notices. The clerk also keeps the official minutes for the Board of Supervisors and handles a treasurer role for county funds. Many of these records reach back many years.

• Records deeds and mortgages tied to real property in the county
• Records construction liens, condominium liens, federal tax liens, and lis pendens notices
• Files military discharge records for veterans
• Serves as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and keeps the official minutes
• Runs a treasurer function for the claims docket, payrolls, and checks after Board approval
• Stores and disposes of older land rolls, tax receipts, and other county records after active use

Because the office holds old land rolls and county records, it is the right place to ask about deeds, plats, and liens from past decades. Some of those files are paper only. Staff can tell you what survives and how to view it.

Chancery Court Case Records in Adams County

As clerk of Chancery Court, this office holds the case files for the county equity court. That court hears estates of people who have died, guardianships, conservatorships, divorces, child custody, adoption, property disputes, and other equity matters. The Chancery Clerk takes in the petitions, keeps the file, and issues certified copies of decrees and orders once a judge signs them. Probate work in the county runs through this court rather than a separate probate court, so estate seekers start here too.

A few terms come up often in these files. A short glossary helps when you read a docket or ask staff for a record.

Testator

A person who leaves a valid will.

Executor

The person named in a will to settle the estate.

Intestate

Dying without a valid will, which routes the estate to administration.

Guardianship

A court role to care for a minor or a person who cannot act alone.

Conservatorship

Court oversight of the money and property of a protected person.

Estate and guardianship files can hold medical or financial details that the court limits. Divorce files may be public, yet child data, addresses, and some exhibits can be sealed. For a deeper look at estate filings, the county probate records page walks through how an estate opens and closes in Chancery Court.

Chancery Clerk or Circuit Clerk in Adams County

The county splits clerk duties between two offices, and that trips up many searchers. The Chancery Clerk covers land, liens, estates, and family equity files. The Circuit Clerk, Eva Givens, covers Circuit and County Court cases and issues marriage licenses. Picking the right office on the first try saves a wasted trip across the courthouse.

The table below sorts the most common records by office. When a case type is not listed, a quick call settles it fast.

Marriage and divorce sit in two different offices, which surprises people. A marriage license starts with the Circuit Clerk, while a divorce decree lives in Chancery Court. The county Circuit Clerk office handles the court cases and license records this office does not.

Adams County Chancery Clerk Office Page

The county posts the office contact details and duty list on its official site. You can review them on the Adams County Chancery Clerk page before you call or visit.

The page names Brandi Lewis as clerk and lists the courthouse address, phone, fax, and email. It also spells out the recorder and Chancery Court duties, which helps you confirm that your record really belongs to this office.

Land and Estate Record Search Fields

Most requests to this office start with a name or a file reference. Land records index by the parties to a deed or lien. Estate and guardianship files index by the decedent or protected person. Having a book and page, a cause number, or a date in hand makes any search far quicker, especially for older paper files.

How to Request a Certified Copy or Search Land Records

A certified copy carries the clerk's seal and proves the record is genuine. Lenders, courts, and title companies often ask for one. The steps below cover both a copy request and a land-record search at the counter.

1. Decide what you need: a deed or lien, an estate or guardianship file, or a divorce decree. This sets which index the clerk will use.
2. Gather your search facts. Bring party names, a cause number or book and page, an instrument type, and a date if you have one.
3. Contact the office at 601-446-6684 or chanceryclerk@adamscountyms.gov to confirm the file is held here and to ask what a copy will cost.
4. Visit the counter at 115 South Wall Street in Natchez, or send your request by mail, to search the index and pull the file.
5. Pay the recording or copy fee the clerk quotes, and ask for the certified stamp if you need a copy that holds up in court.
6. Pick up the copy or arrange for it to be mailed once staff prepare it.

Note: Call ahead for historic land or estate records, since older files may be paper only and can take staff extra time to locate.

Adams County Chancery Clerk Fees

Recording, probate, and divorce fees for this office were not posted in the official online sources reviewed. Rather than guess, confirm the current charge with the clerk before you file or order a copy. Fees can change and often depend on page count or the type of instrument.

One fee rule is fixed by the state. State tax liens dated after January 1, 2015 are filed at liens.ms.gov and are no longer recorded at the county clerk. Older state tax liens may still sit in the county records.

Online and In-Person Record Channels

This office does not run a free public portal for Chancery records. The counter, the phone line, and the office email remain the main way to reach land, estate, and divorce files. That makes a quick call the smartest first step for most searches.

Mississippi has finished moving its trial courts to electronic filing. Public document access uses the Public Access to MEC system, known as PAMEC, with a small yearly registration fee and a per-page viewing charge. Details on the rollout sit on the Mississippi Judiciary electronic filing notice, and the system basics appear on the Mississippi Electronic Courts information page. The county's own go-live on May 20, 2024 covered the Circuit Court and County Court. PAMEC may reach Chancery Court electronic records as the statewide system matures, so check there for newer filings.

For county public records that are not court files, the Adams County NextRequest portal lets you file and track a request online. Court-file copies, though, should start with the Chancery Clerk. Many older land and estate records were never digitized, so a phone call to the office is the surest path to a historic file.