Grand Jury Action
The Hinds County District Attorney’s Office prosecutes all felony cases in the Seventh Judicial District which comprises Hinds County, the largest district in the state. The district includes Jackson, Mississippi’s Capital, and Seat of Government, as well as Raymond, Utica, Byram, Clinton, Terry, Edwards, Bolton, and Learned.
When the police or other law enforcement agency make a felony arrest, the case is submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for presentation to the Hinds County Grand Jury. The Grand Jury is charged with either indicting the individual for the crime charged or returning a “no-bill.” An indictment is the formal charging instrument that charges the individual with the crime and is the first step in the prosecutorial process.
Since January 1, 2023, the Hinds County Grand Jury has indicted 949 individuals, encompassing 1,848 felony counts.
Law Enforcement Agencies
A variety of law enforcement agencies present cases to the Hinds County Grand Jury. In addition to the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department and the police departments serving Jackson, Raymond, Utica, Byram, Clinton, Terry, Edwards, Bolton, and Learned, cases are also presented by Capitol Police, the Office of the State Auditor, Department of Revenue, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mississippi Department of Insurance, Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson State University. The following graph illustrates the number of cases presented by each department from January 1 to June 30, 2023.
Dispositions
Felony criminal cases are resolved in a number of ways including trials, guilty pleas, diversion programs, remand, and dismissal. Between January 1 to June 30, 2023, the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office resolved 495 felony cases, encompassing a total of 708 counts. The following charts illustrate how these cases are were resolved.
Trial Results
The following graph shows the result of the trials had during the first part of 2023.
Smart Justice
The Hinds Count District Attorney’s Office is committed to Smart Justice, evaluating every case in terms of the best result for both the victim and the community. To accomplish this goal, the Office places special emphasis on pretrial programs aimed at reducing recidivism and making victims whole. The District Attorney’s Office is also instrumental in assisting citizens, who have paid their debt to society, to expunge eligible convictions.
We continued our commitment to diverting individuals away from the criminal justice system by identifying eligible offenders for the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office’s pretrial intervention program. Thirteen drug offenders entered Drug Court joining the other 165 individuals on the road to recovery. So far this year, 84 citizens received expungements, bringing this administration’s expungement total to 350. With the help of this office, these individuals were able to receive a fresh start by having eligible convictions removed from their records. Finally, our Office stands ready to support Judge Peterson’s implementation of Mental Health Court later this year.
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