About the Franklin County Chancery Clerk
Jill Gilbert serves as the Franklin County Chancery Clerk, an office filled by countywide election. The Chancery Clerk is the record keeper for the Chancery Court and the recording officer for land in the county. The same office acts as secretary to the Board of Supervisors and as county auditor and treasurer, which means it touches court files, property records, and county finances at once.
For the public, the Chancery Clerk is the door to the most personal court records the county keeps. Divorces, custody matters, adoptions, estates, guardianships, and conservatorships are filed here. So are the deeds, deeds of trust, and liens that decide who owns what. The clerk certifies copies of these records but does not give legal advice or rule on cases.
Franklin County publishes a local resources page that helps residents reach county offices and services in one place. The county local resources page sits alongside the same navigation that points to the elected clerks. 
Starting from the official county site keeps a record search anchored to current contacts rather than outdated listings.
Franklin County Chancery Clerk
Clerk: Jill Gilbert
P.O. Box 297
Meadville, MS 39653
601-384-2330
Fax: 601-384-5864
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Open during lunch unless short staffed
What the Franklin County Chancery Clerk Does
The Chancery Clerk wears more hats than almost any other county office. It is the clerk for Chancery Court, the recorder of land instruments, the keeper of the Board of Supervisors minutes, and the county's auditor and treasurer. It is also the local clerk for Youth Court and Department of Human Services matters, which stay confidential under state law.
The official county page for the office lays out the duties it carries across these roles.
- Acts as clerk for Chancery Court, where divorce, custody, adoption, and equity cases are filed
- Handles estate, guardianship, conservatorship, and property-dispute files
- Records deeds, deeds of trust, oil and gas leases, liens, lis pendens, and military discharges
- Keeps delinquent property tax-sale records
- Serves as clerk to the Board of Supervisors and records its minutes
- Works as county auditor and treasurer over county finances
- Serves as clerk for Youth Court and DHS matters, subject to confidentiality rules
Marriage is the one family record this office does not keep. Because Franklin County splits its clerks, marriage licenses and marriage records belong to the Franklin County Circuit Clerk instead, while everything tied to divorce stays in Chancery Court. That split surprises many residents and is worth checking before any visit.
The county-government side of the job shapes how the office runs day to day. As clerk to the Board of Supervisors, the Chancery Clerk records the minutes that document county decisions, and as auditor and treasurer the office tracks county money. Those duties sit beside the court and land work at the same counter, so the staff move between a deed, an estate file, and a board record in the course of a single morning. Knowing this helps explain why a Chancery Clerk visit can take longer than a quick copy errand.
How to Request a Certified Copy
A certified copy is a clerk-verified document carrying the court's seal to show it is a true copy of the original. Estates, divorces, guardianships, and land transfers routinely require them. The full estate and guardianship process is covered on the Franklin County Chancery Court probate page; the steps below apply to ordering a copy of any record this office holds.
- Identify the record type. A divorce decree, an estate or probate file, a guardianship, and a recorded deed are searched in different books.
- Gather the details. Have party names, the cause number if known, the estate or grantor and grantee names, and an approximate date.
- Reach the clerk by phone, mail, or in person, and ask for a certified copy of the specific record.
- Confirm the charge first, since Franklin County does not publish Chancery Court copy fees online.
- Collect the certified copy at the counter or have it mailed once the office locates the file and applies its seal.
Note: A certified divorce decree comes only from the Chancery Clerk, even after the state health department locates the county and book in its index search.
Franklin County Chancery Clerk Request Fields
No official Chancery Clerk records request form was located in Franklin County sources. The county forms page offers general items but no court-records or land-records request form. Requests are made directly to the office by phone, mail, or in person, and the clerk searches from the information supplied. The fields below are what the office generally needs, not a published form.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cause Number | No | Mississippi Chancery filings use "Cause No." Helpful for divorce and estate files but not essential. |
| Party or Estate Names | Yes | Full legal names, the decedent's name for an estate, or grantor and grantee for a deed. |
| Record Type | Yes | State whether you need a divorce decree, estate file, guardianship, or recorded land instrument. |
| Approximate Date or Year | Yes | Narrows the search, especially for older recorded volumes. |
| Book and Page | No | For land records, a book and page reference speeds retrieval if you have it. |
| Certified or Plain Copy | Yes | Say whether you need the clerk's seal, which affects the charge. |
| Requester Contact | Yes | Phone, mailing address, or other contact so the office can confirm and return the record. |
Franklin County Chancery Clerk Fees
Franklin County does not publish a Chancery Court or land-recording fee schedule on its official pages. Mississippi law allows clerks to charge for searching, copying, and mailing records, so confirm any amount with the office before ordering. One related charge is documented at the state level: the health department's divorce index search, which locates a county and book reference but does not produce the decree itself.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Plain copy per page | Not published; call the office |
| Certified copy per page | Not published; call the office |
| Certified divorce decree | Not published; obtained from the Chancery Clerk |
| Land record copy | Not published; call the office |
| MSDH divorce index search | $17 (five-year search; decree still from the clerk) |
| PAMEC public registration / renewal | $10 per year |
| PAMEC document viewing | About $0.20 per page |
The state divorce index is a locator, not a copy service. The Mississippi State Department of Health can search county divorce indexes for a fee and report the county and book and page where a decree was entered, as described on the MSDH divorce records page. The certified decree then comes from this office.
Land and Property Records in Franklin County
Recording is a large share of the Chancery Clerk's daily work. Every instrument that affects title to local property is filed, indexed, and kept here, which makes the office the starting point for title searches, lien checks, and estate-related land questions. These are not court case files in the narrow sense, but they connect to probate, judgments, and property disputes.
The recorded instruments handled by this office include several common types.
- Deeds and deeds of trust
- Assignments and oil and gas leases
- Federal tax liens and construction liens
- Lis pendens notices of pending litigation
- Military discharge records
- Delinquent property tax-sale records
Because land records run by book and page, having that reference, or at least the names of the parties and an approximate date, makes any search faster. Staff can explain how the indexes are organized, but they cannot perform a legal title opinion or advise on a property dispute.
Franklin County Chancery Clerk Online Access
Franklin County does not host its own online case or land-records search. The county courts and Chancery Clerk pages list contacts and duties, but no local database lets the public pull a divorce, estate, or deed from home. The absence of a portal does not close the record; it points back to the office.
The statewide route is Public Access Mississippi Electronic Case Management, the public side of Mississippi Electronic Courts. A $10 annual registration opens a single login to dockets and documents for participating Chancery and Circuit cases, with a per-page viewing charge. Remote access is often restricted for divorce, custody, guardianship, conservatorship, and other sensitive family categories, so many Chancery records still require a direct request. When the system shows nothing, the next step is to contact the clerk by phone, mail, or in person.
Land records sit slightly apart from the case system. Deeds, deeds of trust, and liens are indexed in recording books rather than docketed like a lawsuit, so a title or lien check usually means working with the clerk's land indexes directly. For a divorce or estate, the path runs through the case file; for a property question, it runs through the recording books. Either way, an absence of an online result is not proof a record does not exist, only a sign that the search belongs at the office.
Note: Youth Court and Department of Human Services records handled by this office are confidential under Mississippi law and are not open to general public search.