Free Lexis? Free Westlaw? Indeed, every lawyer in the tri-county area has free access to both Lexis and Westlaw—paid for by Hinds County filing fees designated to support the county law library. The only catch is that you have to go to the State Library for Westlaw or to the Eudora Welty Library or courthouse libraries for Lexis to get access—still it’s a great deal.

Hinds County has been more creative than most in the use of its county law library funds. The money comes from the public and the benefits should be available to both the public and the bar. To that end, satellite law libraries have been established in multiple locations.

All three county courthouses (Circuit, Chancery, and Raymond) have basic legal materials—Mississippi Reports, Mississippi Code, Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, and other books. Both the Circuit and Chancery Courthouses in Jackson have at least one computer workstation that can be used to create and print documents or to access Lexis.

The State Library is mainly funded through the Mississippi Supreme Court; but its Westlaw subscription is paid for through county filing fees and is available to all library users at no cost other than printing, though CABA members are not charged for printing. The Library’s law collection is extensive and it is a major resource in the state for legal materials.

The Eudora Welty Library on State Street has the most hours of availability. Filing fees pay for the basic legal materials housed there in hard copy and for access to Lexis through designated library computers. There is a charge for printing.

Ben Piazza chairs CABA’s Law Library Committee, which meets with representatives of all the satellite libraries, reviews issues relating to law library service, and makes recommendations to the CABA Board. In turn, the CABA Board makes recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. If you have suggestions about Hinds County Law Library services, please send them to Ben at bjpiazza@schoolaw.com.