Felony Defense Investigations in Mississippi

01The timeline

From Arrest to Indictment to a Circuit Court Trial Setting

Felony prosecutions in Mississippi generally proceed by grand jury indictment and are tried in the circuit court of the county where the offense occurred. Mississippi has 23 circuit court districts, many of which are being redrawn effective January 2027, so the judge and the term schedule in places like Rankin County can change during a long case. After arraignment, Mississippi Rule of Criminal Procedure 9 generally requires that trial be set no later than 270 days out. That deadline gives counsel structure, but the investigation that matters most usually happens before it starts running. Our Mississippi attorney support services are organized around that sequence.

The period between arrest and indictment has historically been the hardest part of a Mississippi felony. Reporting on the state's indigent defense system described defendants waiting months without counsel, a gap critics called the dead zone. The Mississippi Supreme Court amended Rule 7.2, effective July 1, 2023, so that appointed counsel generally continues representing a defendant in all further proceedings unless the court allows withdrawal. For counsel, that continuity is an opening to investigate early. Appointed lawyers can use our budgeting support for appointed defense counsel to request funds.

• Grand jury indictment for felony charges
• Circuit court in the county of the offense
• Trial set within 270 days of arraignment
• Appointed counsel continues through the case

02Fitting the charge

Each Mississippi Felony Has Its Own Factual Core

Good felony investigation starts with the elements. Aggravated stalking under § 97-3-107 turns on a weapon, a prior conviction within seven years or a protected victim. Cyberstalking under § 97-45-15 is a felony that depends on the content and repetition of electronic communications. Identity theft under § 97-19-85 needs a false statement used to obtain something of value. Motor vehicle theft under § 97-17-42 reaches a vehicle of any value. Each one points to different witnesses and records, so our plan is written charge by charge. Related electronic cases draw on our cyberbullying and online harassment work.

Some felonies grow out of traffic events. Leaving the scene of a crash causing death or serious injury under § 63-3-401 carries five to 20 years, and aggravated DUI under § 63-11-30(5) is described by the Mississippi Bar as five to 25 years per victim. Those cases need roadway measurements, lighting and sight-line documentation, vehicle damage photographs and witness location. Our hit-and-run investigation team in Mississippi handles the scene side, and our DUI defense investigation service supports the testing and prior-record questions in the same file.

03People

Locating, Interviewing and Evaluating Witnesses

Felony cases often depend on a few witnesses whose accounts the State has already locked in. The defense needs to know who else was there, what they saw and whether the State's witnesses have reasons to shade their testimony. We canvass neighborhoods and businesses, identify people by name, and locate those who have moved, sometimes across state lines. Our Mississippi skip tracing investigators handle the hardest locates, and every interview is summarized in writing for counsel the same week it happens.

Credibility work is just as important. We research public court records, prior statements, civil suits and relationships that may give a witness a motive or bias. For cooperating witnesses, we look for benefits they may receive and earlier versions of their story. We present what we find neutrally and cite the source of every fact, because a defense theory built on an unsupported rumor collapses at trial. Our witness background checks for Mississippi counsel start at $102 for a basic remote check and $300 for a deep-dive.

• Neighborhood and business canvass
• Out-of-state witness location
• Prior statements and court records
• Benefits and motives of cooperating witnesses

04Records and data

Phones, Accounts, Financial Records and Public Records

Modern felony discovery is mostly data: phone extractions, cell site records, bank statements, social media returns and surveillance video. We help counsel organize that material into a timeline, identify gaps and decide what to request next. When the State's theory depends on a device being in a place at a time, we look for independent records that confirm or contradict it, such as receipts, work schedules and access logs. Financial charges benefit from our asset and money tracing in Mississippi, which follows funds through accounts and property records.

Public records fill in the rest. Mississippi's Public Records Act, § 25-61-5, generally allows any person to inspect public records and sets response windows, which helps with incident reports, policies and agency logs. We prepare requests for counsel to send or send them at counsel's direction, and we track every response. Insurance and benefit fraud cases may involve the Attorney General's Insurance Integrity Enforcement Bureau created by § 7-5-301, and our Mississippi insurance investigation team understands how those files are built before they reach a grand jury.

05Federal court

Felonies in the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi

Some felony charges are filed in federal court. Under 28 U.S.C. § 104, the Northern District of Mississippi sits in Aberdeen, Ackerman, Corinth, Oxford, Clarksdale, Cleveland and Greenville, and the Southern District sits in Jackson, Gulfport, Hattiesburg and Natchez. Federal cases move under different discovery rules and sentencing guidelines, and the investigation must be planned with those differences in mind. Cases from Meridian, for example, are assigned to the Southern District's Northern Division in Jackson, a detail counsel will want reflected in travel planning through our Lauderdale County coverage.

Federal investigations often run for years before charges, which means the defense starts far behind. We help counsel catch up by interviewing witnesses the agents spoke with, reconstructing financial flows and locating documents the government may not have. Mitigation investigation, covering a client's history, family and community, matters a great deal at federal sentencing. Our corporate investigation team in Mississippi supports white-collar matters, and our investigative consulting for Mississippi counsel helps prioritize tasks when the discovery is large and the budget is fixed.

06Trial and sentencing

Trial Exhibits, Jury Research and Mitigation

As trial approaches, investigation shifts toward presentation. We prepare scene diagrams, photograph sets, timelines and witness binders that counsel can use with the jury. Mississippi jurors must generally be at least 21 and qualified electors or resident freeholders of the county for more than a year under § 13-5-1, and our Mississippi jury pool research reviews public information about the venire within the limits the court sets. We also serve subpoenas through our statewide process serving division when counsel needs witnesses or records in court.

When a case resolves by plea or verdict, mitigation becomes the focus. We gather school, medical, employment and family records with the client's authorization, interview people who know the client and organize the material for a sentencing memorandum. In capital cases, the Office of State Public Defender's Capital Defense Division may be involved, and mitigation work must meet a much higher standard. Delator's reports are written for courts, with sources cited and opinions kept separate from facts, so counsel can file them or use them to prepare testimony.

07Working with Delator

Engagement, Licensing Standard and Price

Delator Group is a licensed Tennessee private investigation firm headquartered in Nashville with leadership drawn from military and federal law enforcement backgrounds. Mississippi does not license private investigators at the state level, though local business privilege licenses may apply, and we hold every assignment to Tennessee's standard. Delator has no Mississippi office. We assign vetted, insured investigators to the county where the work is needed and keep one chain of command. Counsel can read more about Delator's background and leadership before engaging us.

Single felony defense investigations start at $1,000, and multiple charges start at $1,500. Hourly work is billed at the standard $100 rate. Before any field work, counsel receives a written scope and price, and the scope changes only with written approval. Travel to distant counties and records fees are listed separately. The Mississippi pricing schedule has the full list, and the guide to what investigations cost in Mississippi explains how hours are estimated for a typical felony file.

Services

Felony defense investigation services in Mississippi

• Scene reconstructionMeasurements, photographs, lighting checks and diagrams of the incident location, prepared so counsel can test the State's account of distance, visibility and timing.Learn more
• Witness canvass and interviewsNeighborhood and business canvassing, followed by located and interviewed witnesses, each summarized in a written memo counsel receives within days.Learn more
• Witness locationSkip tracing for witnesses who moved, changed names or left Mississippi, using lawful data sources and confirmed with field checks before counsel relies on them.Learn more
• Discovery timelinePhone, video and records discovery organized into one dated chronology, with gaps flagged and suggested follow-up requests listed for counsel's review.Learn more
• Financial tracingAccounts, transfers and property records traced in fraud, theft and identity cases to show where money actually went and who controlled it.Learn more
• Crash and roadway workRoadway documentation, vehicle photographs and witness location for leaving-the-scene, vehicular and aggravated DUI felony charges in every Mississippi county, with photographs dated and logged.Learn more
• Jury pool researchPublic-record research on the venire before circuit court jury selection, delivered in the format counsel requests and within any limits the judge imposes.Learn more
• Mitigation investigationLife history records gathered with authorization and interviews with family, teachers and employers, organized for a sentencing memorandum or capital mitigation.Learn more
• Subpoena serviceTrial and records subpoenas served by our process serving division and documented with an affidavit so counsel can prove service if a witness fails to appear.Learn more

How it works

How a Mississippi felony investigation runs

1. 01

   Case review

   Counsel shares the charging papers, any discovery and court dates. We review the file, identify the factual questions that matter most and return a written scope and price.

2. 02

   Early preservation

   Investigators list cameras, records and physical evidence at risk and give counsel custodians for preservation letters while the case waits for the grand jury. Each custodian is listed with contact details.

3. 03

   Field and records work

   We canvass, locate and interview witnesses, document scenes, organize discovery into a timeline and research credibility, reporting progress to counsel in writing as each task closes.

4. 04

   Trial and sentencing support

   Before trial we prepare exhibits, witness binders and jury research; after a plea or verdict we assemble mitigation records and interviews for sentencing. All of it is written for court use.

Compare

Selected Mississippi felonies and the investigation each needs (2025 Mississippi Code, summarized; confirm with counsel)

Statewide coverage

Felony defense support across Mississippi

Circuit court cases in the capital area are supported through our Hinds County investigations and the neighboring Rankin and Madison county courts. Coast felonies in Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula run through Harrison and Jackson County coverage. North Mississippi cases near Southaven are handled through DeSoto County, and northeast cases through Lee County investigations. Pine Belt cases in Hattiesburg draw on our Forrest County work. Federal matters are supported in every division of both districts, with travel to Delta and southwest counties quoted in writing.

• Hinds County
• Harrison County
• DeSoto County
• Jackson County
• Lee County
• Lauderdale County
• All of Mississippi

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Every service

Investigations available in Mississippi

Every service below is available in Mississippi and across Mississippi, run by the same Delator Group leadership that manages our Tennessee casework. Choose a service to read how it works in Mississippi.

Service areas

Private investigators across Mississippi