Warren County bankruptcy filings dropped slightly over the 12-month period that ended in September, even as statewide filings jumped amid a national recession, figures from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi show.  

The numbers show 235 Warren County bankruptcy filings between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2009, compared to 254 from the 2007-08 period.  That’s a decrease of about 7.5 percent.

Filings fell in the county for both individuals and businesses, the data shows.

According to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, 14,454 individual and business bankruptcies were filed in the state between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2009, the accounting year for the agency.

That represents an increase of 22.3 percent from the 2007-08 total of 11,816.

Individual bankruptcies rose 22 percent for the most recent year to 14,014 from 11,485 the previous year.

Business bankruptcies exploded 33.5 percent to 229 from 172 in 2007-08.

The Northern Federal Judicial District of Mississippi saw total bankruptcies rise 27.3 percent.

 Individual bankruptcies rose 27.1 percent and business bankruptcies hopped 32.7 percent. In the Southern Federal Judicial District, which includes Warren County, total bankruptcies were up 18 percent.

Individual bankruptcies rose 17.6 percent and business bankruptcies jumped 31.4 percent.

Nationally, total bankruptcies rose 34 percent over the same time, with business filings jumping 51 percent and individual filings going up 33.9 percent.

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Contact Ben Bryant at bbryant@vicksburgpost.com