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The State of Mississippi is divided into twenty Chancery Court districts.  The Fifteenth Chancery Court District includes Copiah and Lincoln Counties. 

Our current legal system, including our Chancery Court, was derived primarily from the English legal system and is what we call the common law.

From these roots came the Chancery Court in Mississippi, a court of “equity,” established to hear and decide cases for which there was not a “full, adequate and complete remedy at law.”

Under the Mississippi constitution and by statute, the Chancery Court has jurisdiction over the following types of cases:  (1) all matters in equity (which includes cases of fraud or mistake, property rights, preservation of property, conveyances of property, mortgages and liens on property, trusts, accountings, injunctions, specific performance of contracts); (2) divorce and alimony (including annulment, separate maintenance, child custody, child support, division of marital assets/property); (3) matters testamentary and of administration (including probate of wills, handling of estates either with or without a will); (4) minors’ business (including emancipation of minors, approving settlement of claims of minors, appointment and removal of guardians);  (5) cases of idiocy, lunacy, and persons of unsound minds (including commitments to institutions); and (6) all matters of which the Chancery Court had jurisdiction when the state constitution came into existence.   The Youth Court, while set up as a separate entity, also falls under the jurisdiction of the Chancery Court, and Youth Court Judges (referees) are appointed by the Chancellor.

A majority of the cases handled in Chancery Court are domestic cases, such as divorce, child support, and enforcement of prior support decrees, followed by probate and estate matters.

Relevant to those parties with minor children obtaining divorces on the grounds of irreconcilable differences, whether the parties represent themselves or are represented by attorneys, our Chancery Court requires that both parties read and sign a Divorce Information Sheet before an order of divorce will be entered.  This sheet sets out various rights and responsibilities of the parties related to child support, child custody, visitation, and payment of medical bills.  The goal of this sheet is to give the parties a tool which they can use to handle disputes that may arise without the need to come back to Court.  Since the implementation of this information sheet, very few cases have come back before the Court on a contempt or modification issue on the matters disclosed in the information sheet.

As previously stated, Youth Court is a division of Chancery Court.  In this ever growing area of concern, the Court in the Fifteenth Chancery Court District recognized a need to foster greater communication between the various agencies that address the problems of children.  The Chancery Court entered an order establishing an inter-agency council in Copiah County made up of the representatives from the local schools, the Department of Human Services, Youth Court, the Department of Mental Health, and the Youth Court Prosecutor.  This council meets once per month to discuss from a multi-disciplinary approach various situations, problems, and the like occurring in regard to the children and the youth in the county.  All matters are held in the strictest confidence pursuant to court order.  This approach has enabled the various agencies to cross barriers and find solutions that help children and expand resources.