This is The Marshall Project – Jackson’s newsletter, a monthly digest of criminal justice news from around Mississippi gathered by our staff of local journalists. Want this delivered to your inbox? Sign up for future newsletters.

In this issue: A recap of major changes to Mississippi youth court, and a request that could help lower the population of the long-troubled Raymond Detention Center. Also, if you or someone you know spent a long time in a Mississippi jail without being formally charged, let us know.

– Daja E. Henry

Stuck in Mississippi jails awaiting trial

Dozens of people — perhaps many more — have been held in Mississippi’s Hinds County jail for months without criminal charges from a district attorney. We’re asking for your help to find them.

One major cause of delay is the amount of time people are held behind bars before being indicted, which the jail’s new supervisor, Wendell France, called “unsustainable and legally problematic” in a letter last year to prosecutors. Other counties in Mississippi face similar issues.

Indictments are issued after arrest and are brought by a group of people known as a grand jury. Like regular juries, the grand jury is composed of people from the community. But rather than deciding whether someone is guilty or not, grand juries listen to evidence presented by prosecutors to determine whether there is a strong enough reason to go to trial. If a grand jury decides not to issue an indictment, the felony charges are dropped. But if the grand jury does issue an indictment, the case moves forward, usually either to trial or a plea deal.

If you’ve been arrested for a felony but not indicted, you can’t ask to see all the evidence against you. And people who can’t post bail or otherwise secure release before their trial have no choice but to sit in jail and wait.

Were you, or someone you know, waiting in jail for months without getting an indictment from the grand jury or going to court? Tell us about your experience here.

If this sounds like someone you know, please forward this email to them.

– Caleb Bedillion and Ivy Scott

Major changes in youth court

During a two-day special session focused on youth court, the state legislature passed three bills to overhaul the state’s disjointed system. Gov. Tate Reeves quickly called the session last month after laws related to youth court expired on July 1, creating uncertainty within the system, and prompting lawsuits at the state and federal level.

Youth court handles both child welfare matters, such as abuse and neglect, and delinquency, when a child is accused of committing a crime. The court also makes decisions about whether children should be separated from their families, and it has jurisdiction over children who are deemed in need of supervision because they commit status offenses like running away or being “habitually disobedient.”

The new laws target the disjointed nature of Mississippi’s youth court system and its blanket confidentiality, and create diversion programs to reduce the number of children in youth detention facilities. The bill will also expand the Oakley Youth Development Center and fund two new state-run detention centers in the northern and southern parts of the state, making it easier for youth to be held closer to their families. Oakley is currently the only facility for kids from all over the state who are adjudicated delinquent, meaning they are guilty of a felony-level offense.

Previously, youth court matters across the state varied widely, and all proceedings were closed to the public. Only 24 counties had a full-time judge handling youth court, while others had part-time referees, some of whom worked on youth court just a few times each month. The new legislation eliminates referees and adds nine new full-time judges. Another persistent issue was the previous system’s blanket confidentiality, which often prevented attorneys, parents and children from accessing their own records.

Sen. Brice Wiggins of Jackson County, the author of the Mississippi Youth Court Reform Act of 2026, told Mississippi Today that the old patchwork system resulted in different outcomes in court for children and parents, depending on where they lived.

Hinds County funds additional prosecutor to ease backlog, overcrowding in county jail

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved funding for an additional prosecutor in the district attorney’s office to address the backlog of criminal cases that are awaiting trial, and to alleviate crowding in the Raymond Detention Center. The prosecutor will focus on people accused of nonviolent crimes and those with high-risk medical needs.

At an Aug. 3 board meeting, temporary Hinds County District Attorney Brad McCullouch asked the Hinds County Board of Supervisors to fund the position. The board approved the request unanimously. The proposal did not include a dollar amount, but Mississippi Today reported the funding would come from “unappropriated surplus” due to “unfilled vacant positions” this fiscal year.

Hinds County, the second most populous county in the state, has been plagued with a high volume of criminal cases that meander through the system. Multiple factors, including an increased Capitol Police force in Jackson, an overwhelmed state crime lab, and a shortage of prosecutors and public defenders to handle the backlog of cases, leave people in jail for extended periods of time. Some have waited more than a year in the detention center without being formally charged with a crime.

The slow pace of the court system has left those accused of crimes to navigate the Raymond Detention Center, where violence, drugs, dysfunction, understaffing and court delays have led to numerous civil rights violations. Previous reporting from The Marshall Project – Jackson detailed dangerous conditions: some detainees slept on the floors, and those without a cell were being extorted, being forced to pay to use the bathroom. Last month, 18-year-old Mielun Butler was beaten to death in the jail, while someone recorded the attack on a contraband cell phone. His family has filed a wrongful death claim.

The facility is now under the control of receiver Wendell M. France, who was appointed by a federal judge to correct the many constitutional violations that plague the facility.

Also in the news

State Supreme Court justice appointed. Gov. Tate Reeves appointed Celeste Embrey Wilson to fill a vacancy on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Wilson was previously a circuit court judge in DeSoto County. She replaces former justice Robert Chamberlin, who left the seat after being confirmed as a federal judge. Mississippi Today

Black woman found hanging in Jackson. The Hinds County coroner identified 29-year-old Tasia Fortune after she was found hanging from a tree. A Jackson city councilman sent a letter requesting federal assistance and implying foul play. A person of interest, who has been interviewed in connection with her death, has been arrested on an unrelated charge. Mississippi Free Press TMP Context: Fortune’s death comes after 21-year-old Delta State University student Trey Reed’s death by hanging last year, a reminder of Mississippi’s long history of racial violence. The Marshall Project

Attorney general launches governor bid. Lynn Fitch, the Mississippi attorney general who helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, is running for governor. If elected, she would be the first woman to be governor of Mississippi. The Mississippi Independent

Public defense plans unclear, analysis says. Public defense plans submitted to the Mississippi Supreme Court revealed “wide gaps in how Mississippi’s 23 judicial circuits document — and potentially deliver — the constitutional right to counsel for poor defendants,” an analysis by the Greenwood Commonwealth found. The plans detail how each district provides attorneys for people who cannot afford one, as required by the Sixth Amendment. However, the plans vary widely, pointing to the state’s patchwork public defense system. Greenwood Commonwealth TMP Context: Last year, the Mississippi Supreme Court required each circuit court district to file these plans to disclose how they would provide counsel for those who cannot afford attorneys. The Marshall Project This followed previous reporting that revealed most courts in the state were ignoring a 2017 rule that required them to submit public defense plans. The Marshall Project

Nolan Wells’ family will sue, amid pending criminal investigation. The legal team representing the family of Nolan Wells sent out letters to local officials and parents of Wells’ friends, stating its intent to file a lawsuit connected to his death. The 18-year-old Black college freshman went out with a group of friends, all of whom were White, to celebrate the Fourth of July on Horn Island, but did not return on the boat with them. His body was found days later. The family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump and commissioned an independent autopsy, which was inconclusive. The Guardian No one has been arrested in connection with Wells’ death, but federal authorities have arrested three people for making threats to law enforcement and a judge whose son was allegedly friends with Wells. Mississippi Public Broadcasting