Mississippi Court Abstract Form

What a Court Abstract Is

A Court Abstract — sometimes called a clearance form or locally referred to as a "My Clear Form" — is an official document issued by a Mississippi municipal or justice court clerk certifying that a specific court-level hold on your driving record has been resolved. It's the formal proof that you've handled your citation, and it's the document that triggers the removal of a Failure to Appear hold from your Motor Vehicle Report.

Without a Court Abstract, DPS cannot lift a court-imposed suspension. Even if you've paid every fine and appeared at every hearing, the hold stays active on your record until the court clerk issues the abstract and transmits it to the Department of Public Safety.

Each Court Abstract clears one specific hold from one specific court. If you have FTA holds from two different courts — say, a Jackson municipal court citation and a Rankin County justice court ticket — you need a separate Court Abstract from each one.

How to Get a Court Abstract

The process starts at the court that issued the original citation. The court name and jurisdiction appear on your traffic ticket and on your Motor Vehicle Report.

Step 1: Resolve the underlying citation. You can't get a Court Abstract until the citation is fully resolved. Resolution typically means one of three things:

• Paying the fine and all associated court costs in full
• Appearing before a judge to enter a plea and receive sentencing (which may include a fine, community service, or a payment plan)
• Having the citation dismissed (through a successful defense or prosecutorial discretion)

Step 2: Request the abstract from the court clerk. Once the citation is resolved, ask the clerk to issue a Court Abstract. The standard fee is approximately $5 per clearance form, though this varies by court. Some courts issue the abstract automatically upon resolution; others require you to specifically request it.

Step 3: Confirm it's been sent to DPS. The court is legally required to transmit the abstract to DPS electronically, but this process can be slow. Urban courts with heavy dockets — Jackson, Gulfport, Hattiesburg — often have backlogs that delay transmission by days or weeks. Rural justice courts may rely on manual processing that takes even longer.

To speed things up, request a physical copy of the Court Abstract from the clerk and mail it yourself to the Driver Records Division at P.O. Box 1459, Canton, MS 39046. Include your driver's license number so DPS can match it to your record. Some drivers hand-deliver copies to the DPS office at 1900 E. Woodrow Wilson in Jackson for faster processing.

When Bench Warrants Are Involved

If you have an outstanding bench warrant tied to a traffic ticket — typically issued when you failed to appear for a scheduled hearing — the situation requires more careful handling.

A bench warrant means the court has authorized law enforcement to arrest you for contempt of court. This is different from the administrative FTA suspension on your driving record. The suspension is a DPS action; the warrant is a court action. You need to resolve both.

The common fear is that contacting the court clerk about an outstanding warrant will trigger an immediate arrest. In practice, court clerks handle administrative matters — they schedule hearings and process payments. They aren't law enforcement officers executing warrants. But the concern isn't entirely unfounded: if you physically appear at the courthouse and the warrant is active, there is a possibility of arrest before you see a judge.

Several approaches can reduce this risk:

• Call the court clerk first. Ask what options are available for resolving the warrant. Some courts allow you to pay the fine and have the warrant recalled without an appearance. Others will schedule a hearing date and suspend the warrant pending your appearance.
• Hire a traffic defense attorney. An attorney can file a motion to quash the warrant, appear on your behalf, and negotiate a resolution with the court. This is particularly valuable if the warrant has been outstanding for a long time or if the original citation carries serious charges.
• Contact Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project. If you can't afford an attorney, the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project can connect you with pro bono legal assistance for resolving outstanding warrants and court holds.

Once the warrant is recalled and the citation resolved, the court clerk issues the Court Abstract just like any other clearance.

After You Have the Abstract

Getting the Court Abstract is the middle step, not the final one. After the abstract is transmitted to DPS (or you've mailed your own copy):

1. Verify DPS received it. Call the Driver Records Division at 601-487-7028 to confirm the hold has been removed from your record.
2. Pay the DPS reinstatement fee. For an FTA-related hold, the fee is $100. Don't pay this before the abstract is on file — the fee won't reinstate your license if the court hold is still showing as active.
3. Wait for the clearance letter. DPS mails a clearance letter to your residential street address once processing is complete. The letter won't forward to a P.O. Box.

If you have additional holds beyond the one the Court Abstract cleared — child support, DUI, insurance lapse, or another court's FTA — those each need their own resolution before DPS will process full reinstatement. The Mississippi Driver's License Reinstatement Guide covers the complete multi-hold sequence.

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