Kemper County, Mississippi

Kemper County
County
The Kemper Project power plant.
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 32°46′N 88°39′W / 32.76°N 88.65°W / 32.76; -88.65
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Founded	1833
Named for	Reuben Kemper
Seat	De Kalb
Largest Town	De Kalb
Area
• Total	767 sq mi (1,990 km2)
• Land	766 sq mi (1,980 km2)
• Water	0.8 sq mi (2 km2)  0.1%
Population  (2020)
• Total	8,988
• Density	12/sq mi (4.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	3rd
Website	www.kempercounty.ms

Kemper County is a county located on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,988.^[1] Its county seat is De Kalb.^[2] The county is named in honor of Reuben Kemper.^[3]

The county is part of the Meridian, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area. In 2010 the Mississippi Public Service Commission approved construction of the Kemper Project, designed to use "clean coal" to produce electricity for 23 counties in the eastern part of the state. As of February 2017^[update], it was not completed and had cost overruns. It is designed as a model project to use gasification and carbon-capture technologies at this scale.^[4]

East Mississippi Community College is located in Kemper County in the town of Scooba, at the junction of US 45 and Mississippi Highway 16.