Lowndes County Marriage and Divorce Records

Getting a Marriage License in Lowndes County

Marriage licenses in Lowndes County are issued by the Circuit Clerk, not the Chancery Clerk. This is a point that trips up many couples, because in some states the chancery or county clerk handles weddings. Here the work falls to Circuit Clerk Teresa Barksdale and her staff. The office sits in Room 260 at 505 2nd Avenue in Columbus, and applications are taken in person during posted hours. The same office keeps the marriage index, handles voter registration, and maintains the county judgment roll.

Both applicants must come in together to apply. There is no online marriage license in Mississippi, so a couple cannot finish the process by mail or web. Each person brings an official document that proves age. If either applicant is under 21, both parents or legal guardians must sign a consent form. A court order is required when the male applicant is below 17 and the female applicant is below 15. The clerk can also refuse to issue a license if an applicant appears unable to understand the nature and consequences of the request.

The official county office page for the Circuit Clerk lists hours, division phone numbers, and the marriage and voter line. You can confirm current details on the Lowndes County Circuit Clerk page before driving downtown. The marriage and voter registration line is 662-329-5947 or 662-329-5900.

The Circuit Clerk's office anchors several record types beyond marriage, and its public-facing page is the best starting point for hours and contacts. The image below links to that official page.

A quick look at the Circuit Clerk's resource page shows the range of duties the office carries, from court records to elections.

Because the same clerk handles marriage licenses and the marriage index, one office visit can both create a new record and confirm an older one. For estate and land matters the county routes elsewhere, which is why the clerk page is useful for sorting the right door before you go.

How to Apply for a Marriage License

Applying is straightforward once both people are ready to appear together. The fee is $37, cash only, and the clerk asks for correct change. Applications are accepted only between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., a tighter window than the office's full 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday. Plan the visit early enough in the day to allow for paperwork.

1. Confirm both applicants can appear together at the Circuit Clerk, Room 260, 505 2nd Avenue, Columbus.
2. Bring official proof of age for both applicants.
3. Bring parent or legal guardian consent if an applicant is under 21.
4. Bring a court order if the male applicant is under 17 and the female applicant is under 15.
5. Bring $37 in cash, in correct change.
6. Arrive during application hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
7. Obtain the license and follow Mississippi ceremony and return requirements through the clerk.

Note: The clerk will not issue a license if it appears either applicant cannot understand the nature and consequences of the request.

Marriage License Application Requirements

The marriage license application is built around a short list of in-person checks rather than a long mail-in form. Each requirement below comes from the official county application rules. The conditional items only apply in certain age situations, but the appearance, proof of age, and fee rules apply to every couple.

Lowndes County Marriage and Divorce Fees

Costs depend on which record you need and which office holds it. The marriage license fee is fixed and paid in cash at the Circuit Clerk. Searching the online marriage index is a separate subscription cost run through the county's record vendor, and that subscription does not produce an official copy. Certified marriage and divorce copies through the state vital records channel are priced by that office and ordered through its own system.

The Delta subscription price includes the vendor's processing fee. It buys index access, not certified documents. Official copies of a Lowndes County marriage record still come from the courthouse, and state-issued certified copies come from the Mississippi State Department of Health.

How to Look Up Lowndes County Marriage Records

The county's marriage index is searchable online through the Delta Computer Systems portal that the Circuit Clerk uses. The portal lists marriage license records from 1991 to the present. There are no images attached, so the portal returns index entries rather than scanned licenses. Access runs on the same subscription that covers civil, criminal, and judgment records, at $30 monthly or $360 annually with the processing fee included.

An index entry helps you confirm that a marriage was recorded and pin down a date, but it is not the official record. For a certified copy or to confirm details, the Circuit Clerk's office at the courthouse remains the source. For older marriages or any record predating the online coverage, contact the office directly. The marriage and voter line, 662-329-5947 or 662-329-5900, reaches the staff who handle these requests.

Mississippi also keeps marriage information at the state level through the Department of Health. The state's vital records office can order marriage records online or by phone, which gives a second route when a courthouse trip is not practical. The county office and the state bureau serve different purposes, with the county as the local issuing and recording office and the state as a certified-copy channel.

How to Find Lowndes County Divorce Records

Divorce records do not sit with the Circuit Clerk. They route to Chancery Court and the Chancery Clerk, because Chancery Court handles domestic and family matters. That includes divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, property division, annulment, and separate maintenance. Estate and guardianship files also live on the chancery side, which is covered in more depth on the Lowndes County Chancery Court probate records page.

Online divorce searching runs through the Delta Chancery case portal. The portal's nature-of-action list includes Divorce-Irreconcilable Differences, Divorce-Fault, Alimony, Annulment, Child Support, Child Custody-Visitation, Domestic Abuse, Paternity, Property Division, Separate Maintenance, and Modification. You can search by party name, case number, filed date, final disposition date, docket or book and page, or file number, subject to subscription access.

A divorce file can hold the complaint, the final judgment, and orders on custody, support, and property. Some content is sensitive. Records tied to minor children, financial account numbers, abuse or protective-order details, mental-health material, or sealed orders may be redacted or restricted. For official copies, current cases, or files not shown online, contact the Chancery Clerk at 662-329-5800.

1. Search the Delta Chancery case portal if subscription access is available and the case falls within the online coverage.
2. Search by party name, case number, filed date, final disposition date, docket or book and page, or file number.
3. Apply nature-of-action filters such as divorce, custody, support, alimony, or property division when running a name search.
4. Contact the Chancery Clerk for certified copies, current cases, restricted files, or files not shown online.
5. Use the state vital records divorce-search resources for state-level confirmation where applicable.

Getting Certified Copies

Online index entries are useful for research, but they are not accepted as legal proof. A certified copy carries the official seal and is what banks, attorneys, immigration offices, and courts ask for. For a Lowndes County marriage, the certified record comes from the Circuit Clerk at the courthouse. For a divorce, the certified judgment comes from the Chancery Clerk. Mississippi also offers a statewide certified-copy channel for marriage and divorce through the Department of Health.

The state route runs through VitalChek for online orders or by phone through the Vital Records Office. Marriage records can be ordered online from VitalChek or by phone, and the state page also lets users search divorce records. The image below links to the state's online and phone ordering page.

The ordering page lays out how to request marriage and other vital records from the state bureau.

Choosing between the county office and the state bureau comes down to the record and the timeline. The local clerk is fastest for a record that was issued in Columbus, while the state channel helps when you are out of the area or need a uniform state-issued copy.

Mississippi Vital Records Office

The Mississippi State Department of Health runs the Bureau of Vital Records, which maintains records of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and other vital events. Its vital records page covers ordering marriage records and searching divorce records, and it is the state-level backstop when the county office is not convenient. The image below links to the main MSDH vital records page.

The state vital records page outlines the record types the bureau holds and how to begin a request.

For a Lowndes County couple, the local Circuit Clerk remains the issuing and recording office for marriage, and the Chancery Clerk holds the divorce file. The state bureau serves as the certified-copy channel where that applies. Phone orders and questions go to the Vital Records Office at 601-206-8200.