Investigation Pricing in Mississippi, Set Out Before Anyone Is Assigned

01How prices are built

Four Pricing Rules Cover Every Mississippi Matter

Every Mississippi engagement is priced under one of four rules: hourly field work, a set price for remote records work, a case minimum for defined matter types, or a published county rate for service of process. The rule depends on the work, not on who is asking, so a family in Southaven and a carrier in Jackson see the same figures. Our Mississippi investigations overview explains the work itself, and this page explains the arithmetic behind investigation pricing in Mississippi.

Rules can combine within one file. A divorce matter might start with a $300 deep-dive background check, add hourly surveillance, and end with personal service of a complaint at the county rate. Each part is listed separately on the quote so you can approve some and decline others. When counsel need to budget a full case, our services for Mississippi attorneys set phases with a separate estimate for each one.

• Hourly field work at $100 per hour
• Set prices for remote records services
• Case minimums for defined matters
• Published county rates for serves

02Field work

What the $100 Hourly Rate Covers in Mississippi

The hourly rate applies to time an investigator spends doing the work: surveillance shifts, witness interviews, neighborhood canvasses, courthouse and clerk's office visits, and writing the report. It is the same rate Delator charges in Tennessee. Surveillance investigations in Mississippi are the most common hourly work, and a typical estimate states the number of shifts, their length and the hours set aside for the written log and photographs.

Hourly work is estimated in advance and capped by your approval. If a subject does not leave the house on the first two days, we report that and ask before adding hours, rather than continuing on our own judgment. Interviews of witnesses scattered across counties are grouped by route to keep travel down, which matters on files that touch both the Coast and the Jackson metro. Our witness background check line is often added before interviews so the hours are used on the right people.

03Records work

Remote Records Services and Their Set Prices

Some questions can be answered without anyone driving. A basic background check or a basic skip trace built on database and public-record work costs $102, a deep-dive background check or a due diligence report costs $300, and an OSINT and personal information wipe engagement costs $900. Those prices are the Tennessee price plus 20 percent. Mississippi's Public Records Act, § 25-61-5, gives any person access to public records, with production generally due within seven working days, which keeps many of these checks remote.

Remote work is often the sensible first step. A tenant screening check for a landlord or a business partner background check before signing usually ends at the remote price. When a record points to something that needs a person on the ground, such as an address that has to be confirmed or a witness who has to be found, we tell you what the next step would cost before doing it.

04Case minimums

Case-Based Minimums for Defense, Litigation and Fraud Work

Certain matters carry a minimum because they always involve a baseline of work. Criminal defense investigation starts at $750 for a misdemeanor, $1,000 for a single felony and $1,500 for multiple charges or enhanced exposure. Civil litigation support and asset investigations each carry a $1,000 minimum, a field-work skip trace starts at $1,000, audits at $1,200, abuse investigations at $1,500 and scam investigations at $2,000. Our criminal defense investigation service explains what the defense minimum buys.

A minimum is a floor, not a package price. Hours beyond the minimum are billed at the standard rate, and the quote says how many hours the minimum covers for that matter. A felony file in circuit court with two scenes and five witnesses will usually exceed the minimum, while a single-witness misdemeanor file in justice court may not. The asset investigation service in Mississippi follows the same logic for judgment creditors who need property and business interests traced.

05Travel

How Distance and Geography Affect a Mississippi Quote

Distance changes the hours, never the rate. Mississippi runs about 290 interstate miles along I-55 from the Tennessee line near Southaven to the Louisiana line near Osyka, and many county seats in the Delta and the southwest sit well away from any metro area. A file handled by investigators in Rankin County or Madison County may need little travel, while one in Greenville or Natchez can add a half day each way. The Washington County investigation page shows what a Delta file usually involves.

We name travel hours on the quote before anyone leaves. Where several tasks sit in the same region, such as interviews in Pike and Adams counties, we sequence them in one trip so the travel is shared. Weather also matters: coastal storms and summer heat can push a surveillance window, and we tell you if that would change the estimate. Our Adams County field work on the river is a common example of a trip planned around several tasks.

06Process serving

Process Serving Fees in Mississippi and How They Compare

Serves are priced by county through Delator Field Services. Routine starting rates run from $125 in metro counties such as Hinds, Harrison, DeSoto, Rankin, Madison, Lee, Forrest and Lamar to $210 in Bolivar County. Urgent service costs 1.5 times Routine, Rush 2 times and Same Day Rush 3 times. Each figure is a published starting rate, and the final price is confirmed in writing first. The Mississippi process serving desk explains what each attempt includes.

Counsel sometimes compare these rates with public fees. Under § 25-7-19 the sheriff's fee is $45 per service, and M.R.C.P. 4(c)(1) generally allows costs of a private server to be taxed only up to that statutory amount, so the difference is usually a client expense. In justice court the constable's fee under § 25-7-27 is $55, with $10 for each additional defendant in the household. Mail service with an acknowledgment under Rule 4(c)(3) costs little, but if no acknowledgment returns within 20 days, the court generally orders the defendant to pay for personal service. Our guide to service of process in Mississippi covers each route.

07Quotes and billing

Written Quotes, Approvals and Invoices

Every engagement begins with a written quote that names the pricing rule, the estimated hours or set price, any travel, and the deliverable. You approve it before work starts, and any change in scope gets its own written approval. There is no open-ended retainer drawn down in the background. If a matter is not worth the cost, we say so plainly, and the Mississippi cost guide helps you judge that before you call.

Invoices list hours by task and date so an attorney can pass them to a client or a carrier without rework. Remote services are invoiced at their set price, and case minimums appear as a single line with any additional hours itemized below. Questions about a quote go to leadership directly at (629) 310-8667, and our leadership background page explains who reviews them. You can request a written estimate for your matter with the county, the people involved and the deadline.

Price list

Mississippi investigation and serve prices

These are the published figures Delator Group applies to work in Mississippi. They are the same for an attorney, an insurer or a private client, and they do not change from Hinds County to Tishomingo County. What varies between two Mississippi matters is the number of hours, the miles driven and whether a case minimum applies, and each of those appears on the written quote you approve.

Standard investigative rate

Remote services (Tennessee price plus 20%)

Case-based minimums

Sample Routine process serving starting rates

Process serving is priced by county. Routine starting rates across Mississippi's 82 counties run from $125 to $210, and the full list sits on the Mississippi county serve rate finder. Every figure is a published starting rate, and the final price is confirmed in writing before the first attempt.

Services

Commonly Quoted Mississippi Services

• Surveillance investigationsHourly observation at $100 per hour, estimated by shift and travel, with dated photographs and a written log at the end.Learn more
• Criminal defense investigationsFrom $750 for misdemeanors, $1,000 for a single felony and $1,500 for multiple charges, with hours beyond the minimum itemized.Learn more
• Corporate investigationsInternal theft, collusion and misconduct work for Mississippi employers, billed hourly at the standard rate, with audits starting at a $1,200 minimum.Learn more
• Skip tracingBasic database skip traces for $102 and field-work locates from $1,000 when an address has to be confirmed in person.Learn more
• Employee background checksBasic checks at $102 and deep-dive checks at $300, scoped to the position being filled and to the applicant's written authorization.Learn more
• M&A due diligenceDue diligence reports from $300, expanding to hourly field work when a Mississippi target's history needs interviews or site visits.Learn more
• Personal information OSINT wipeA $900 engagement to find and remove exposed addresses, phone numbers and family details from people-search sites and other public listings.Learn more
• Scam investigationsRomance, rental, contractor and online fraud investigations starting at $2,000, with a documented record prepared for police and counsel.Learn more
• Process servingCounty Routine rates from $125 to $210, with Urgent, Rush and Same Day Rush priced as multiples and confirmed in writing.Learn more

How it works

How a Mississippi Quote Is Built

1. 01

   Identify the rule

   Leadership decides whether the work is hourly, a set-price remote service, a case-minimum matter or a county-rate serve, and tells you which rule applies.

2. 02

   Estimate the work

   We estimate hours, travel and report time for the county involved, or state the set price, and note anything that could change the figure.

3. 03

   Approve in writing

   You receive the written quote and approve it. Nothing starts before approval, and any change in scope is quoted and approved separately.

4. 04

   Invoice by task

   The invoice lists hours by task and date, set prices as single lines and serves by county, so it can be forwarded without rework.

Compare

Which Pricing Rule Applies to Common Mississippi Requests

Statewide coverage

Pricing Applies the Same Way in Every Mississippi County

The rules hold in all 82 counties, and only the estimated hours move. A file handled by our Warren County investigators in Vicksburg may add river-crossing travel into Louisiana, while Pike County work around Magnolia often pairs with I-55 travel. Lauderdale County files near Meridian and Lafayette County matters around Oxford are quoted the same way. In each case the rate stays at $100 per hour and the travel is named before anyone leaves, so a quote for the Delta reads the same way as a quote for the Coast.

• Warren County
• Pike County
• Adams County
• Washington County
• Lauderdale County
• Lafayette 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