Administrative Office of Courts
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Hancock County Chancery Court will hold proceedings in Gulfport Chancery Judge Jim Persons has ordered that hearings and trials scheduled for the November term of Hancock County Chancery Court will be held at the Harrison County Courthouse in Gulfport. The three-week term of court opens on Monday, Nov. 14. Judge Persons will preside over the term of court for Hancock County Chancery Court. There is no facility available to conduct Chancery Court proceedings in Hancock County. The Hancock County Courthouse in Bay St. Louis was damaged by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29 and is closed for repairs. Temporary courtroom facilities are being set up in trailers at the Hancock County Civic Center on Longfellow Drive in Bay St. Louis. Those facilities are not expected to be ready for use before Dec. 1. In an order signed on Nov. 3, Judge Persons said, “Hurricane Katrina damaged the court facilities in Hancock County, Mississippi, to such an extent that, although progress is being made to provide alternative facilities, there is no location in Hancock County which is adequate and available to hold hearings and/or trials during the November Term of Chancery Court.” The order noted that all summonses, subpoenas and/or other process issued for the November Term of Hancock County Chancery Court shall be deemed returnable to the Harrison County Courthouse in Gulfport without further order. Judge Persons stated Friday that he will conduct all Hancock County Chancery Court proceedings in Chancery Courtroom No. 1 in the Harrison County Courthouse in Gulfport. Most other Hancock County Chancery Court proceedings that have required hearings since Aug. 29 have been conducted at the Harrison County Courthouse in Gulfport, said Chancery Judge Margaret Alfonso, senior chancery judge of the 8th Chancery District that includes Hancock, Harrison and Stone counties. Any document which needs to be filed in Hancock County Chancery Court at this time should be filed at the court’s temporary office in a Quonset Hut at the Hancock County Civic Center on Longfellow Drive in Bay St. Louis, said Chief Deputy Chancery Clerk Pamela Cuevas. #### |
