| County: | Rankin County |
| State: | Mississippi |
| Founded Date: | February 4 |
| Founded Year: | 1828 |
| Seat Wl: | Brandon |
| Largest City Wl: | Pearl |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 806 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 775 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 31 |
| Area Percentage: | 3.8 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 157031 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Web: | www.rankincounty.org |
| District: | 3rd |
| Time Zone: | Central |
| Ex Image Cap: | Rankin County Courthouse in Brandon |
Rankin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The western border of the county is formed by the Pearl River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 157,031,[1] making it the fourth-most populous county in Mississippi. The county seat is Brandon.[2] The county is named in honor of Christopher Rankin, a Mississippi Congressman who served from 1819 to 1826.
Rankin County is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (3.8%) is water.[3]
| White (non-Hispanic) | 111,990 | 71.32% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 32,430 | 20.65% | |
| Native American | 255 | 0.16% | |
| Asian | 2,260 | 1.44% | |
| Pacific Islander | 94 | 0.06% | |
| Other/Mixed | 4,935 | 3.14% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 5,067 | 3.23% |
Jackson Evers International Airport is located in unincorporated Rankin County.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) operates the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF), located in unincorporated Rankin County.[5] [6] CMCF houses the state's female death row inmates.[5] MDOC also operates the Brandon Probation and Parole Office in Brandon.[7] In 2007 the Mississippi Highway Patrol opened a driver's license facility across the highway from the prison.[8]
The Mississippi State Hospital of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health is in Whitfield in unincorporated Rankin County.[9] [10] It occupies the former Rankin Farm prison grounds.[11] In 1935, the Mississippi State Insane Asylum moved from a complex of 19th-century buildings in northern Jackson, the capital, to its current location.[12]
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality operates the Central Regional Office and the MDEQ Laboratory in unincorporated Rankin County.[13] [14]
Rankin County is one of the most conservative counties in the state, with Republican candidates normally receiving 70% or so of the popular vote. The county last supported the official Democratic candidate for president in 1956, which is also the last time a Democrat got even 40 percent of the county's vote. While conservative Democrats held most local offices well into the 1980s, today there are almost no elected Democrats left above the county level.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety operates the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy (MLEOTA) on a 243acres property in Rankin County, near CMCF and the MSH, 10miles from Jackson.[15]
In February 2023, the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into conduct of the Rankin County Sheriffs department. The investigation is centered on a January 24, 2023, incident where deputies searched the house of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker. Jenkins and Parker, both African-Americans, experienced six deputies turning-off their body cameras, torturing the men for two hours, shocking them with tasers, repeatedly shouting racial slurs, and shooting one of them in the mouth. All accused officers pled guilty and were convicted.[16] [17]
In June 2023, Jenkins and Parker filed a $400M lawsuit against Sheriff Bryan Bailey and six deputies. In late June, the Sheriff announced that some deputies involved had been terminated or resigned from their jobs, and that the department hired a "compliance officer" to monitor the Sheriff department's daily operations.[18] [19] An investigation by the Associated Press determined that the Sheriff's Special Response Team had been involved in four violent incidents with African-Americans since 2019, resulting in two deaths.[20] [21]
Pearl Public School District and Rankin County School District are the two public school districts located in the county.[22]
Private schools located in the county are Hartfield Academy in Flowood, Jackson Preparatory School in Flowood, Park Place Christian Academy in Pearl, and East Rankin Academy in Pelahatchie.