- The Tax Assessor is responsible for determining the value of all real estate and personal property in the county in order to determine how much each person owes in property taxes. 
- The Tax Assessor keeps and maintains records of changes in ownership in property, including land, furniture, machinery, and equipment. 
- Tax Assessors also help homeowners apply for homestead exemption tax benefits, which let certain homeowners avoid some of their property taxes. 
- Tax Assessors are elected every four years in partisan elections. 

The county accountant who keeps track of property taxes

Washington

Mississippi

2023 Mississippi General Election

Housing Costs

Cost of Living

Tax Assessor

- The Tax Collector is responsible for collecting taxes for the county, all cities within the county, and local school districts. They send bills, collect payments, and distribute tax payments to the county to fund government services
- Taxes handled by the Tax Collector’s office include taxes on real estate, personal property, license plates for cars, privilege licenses, manufactured homes, sales tax on cars, and airplanes. . 
- The Tax Collector’s office also handles the registration of all vehicles and mobile homes in the county, titling vehicles bought from out of state, and issuing and renewing county privilege licenses. 
- Tax Collectors are elected every four years in partisan elections.

The accountant who collects taxes for the county

Tax Collector

- County Supervisors are members of a county-level board called the Board of Supervisors. The board runs the county government, including setting county priorities and funding projects with a multi-million dollar county budget. 
- The board is in charge of county roads, ferries, bridges, law enforcement, collections, fines, and taxes. They also appoint some county-level officials. 
- Decisions made by county supervisors directly impact economic development, public health, safety, and welfare of county citizens. 
- Each county is divided into five supervisor districts of equal population size. Supervisors are elected every four years in partisan elections. Elections take place in odd-numbered years before a presidential election (2023, 2027, 2031, etc.). 

Member of a 5-person board that runs the county

Small Businesses

Public Safety

County Supervisor

- Chancery Court Clerks receive, file, and maintain court paperwork for the Chancery Court. They also serve as the clerk to the county board of supervisors, including keeping board minutes, issuing checks for the board, and acting as county treasurer and auditor. 
- Chancery Courts are for family law, including adoptions, custody disputes, and divorces, guardianships, sanity hearings, wills, equity, and challenges to the constitutionality of state laws. Court paperwork in all of these types of cases are filed with the clerk’s office, as well as land records. 
- Some Mississippi counties have no county courts. In these counties, everything that is normally heard in a county court is heard by the chancery court. This includes youth court, delinquency, abuse, and neglect. 
- These are 20 chancery court districts, with one elected clerk for each district. 

Official record keeper and administrator of the chancery court

Judicial Efficiency

Public Health

Chancery Court Clerk

- Circuit Court Clerks are responsible for receiving and filing all lawsuits, indictments, motions, and other court paperwork in all civil and criminal cases filed in county and circuit courts. 
- These clerks also issue all summons and subpoenas at the county and circuit court level, as well as selects and qualifies citizens to serve on juries. 
- Circuit Court Clerks keep records of all court judgements, issue marriage licenses, record all professional licenses, and register citizens to vote. 
- Cases in circuit court are high-level criminal cases and civil cases, while cases in county court are eminent domain cases and juvenile court matters, including youth court, delinquency, abuse, and neglect cases. 
- Circuit Court Clerks are elected every four years in partisan elections

Official record keeper and administrator of the county and circuit courts

Circuit Court Clerk

- The County Coroner runs the Coroner’s Office, which is responsible for making sure that death investigators are available 24 hours per day to investigate all deaths “affecting the public interest.” 
- Deaths that they are responsible for investigating include deaths causes by accidents, murder, suicide, radiation, heat, electric, chemicals, abortion, disease, sudden infant death syndrome, unexplained deaths, deaths in prison or jail, and deaths where the identity of the dead is unknown. 
- The Coroner is responsible for maintaining copies of all death investigations for five years and coordinating with the State Medical Examiner. 
- There are two types of coroners: chief medical examiners (CMEs) and chief medical investigations (CMEIs). CMEs have a medical or osteopathic degree, while CMEIs are non-physicians who have at least a high school diploma. 
- Coroners are elected to four year terms in partisan elections.

The chief medical examiner or chief medical investigator for the county

2023 Mississippi candidates

Washington Tax Assessor

1 candidate

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Washington Tax Collector

1 candidate

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Washington County Supervisor, District 1

1 candidate

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Washington County Supervisor, District 3

1 candidate

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Washington County Supervisor, District 4

1 candidate

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Washington County Supervisor, District 5

1 candidate

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Washington Chancery Court Clerk

1 candidate

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Washington Circuit Court Clerk

1 candidate

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Washington County Coroner

1 candidate

Washington County Supervisor, District 2

1 candidate

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