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? Subscribe to future newsletters.
Mississippi legislators are meeting in the Statehouse to consider new laws. The Marshall Project - Jackson has published a tool to help you track proposed legislation involving courts, policing and criminal laws. With a built-in search function, you can look for bills related to areas you’re interested in, or just navigate through the tracker to see what lawmakers might do. We’ll update the guide as bills move through the 2025 session.
How could these changes impact the criminal justice system? Below, we highlight a few key bills lawmakers have debated this year.
– Caleb Bedillion and Daja E. Henry
Youth court in the spotlight
Lawmakers are considering proposals to overhaul the state’s youth court system, amid ongoing concerns about Mississippi’s inadequate child welfare system.
State Sen. Brice Wiggins, a Republican from the Gulf Coast, introduced a slew of bills aimed at reforming and consolidating the youth court system.
“We as a state and as a Legislature have not paid attention. We have not done what we needed to do over the decades to get our system correct,” Wiggins said in a December 2024 radio interview.
The state’s youth courts are a patchwork system, with some having a full-time judge in their county courts, while most have no county courts and rely on attorneys employed part-time as youth court referees.
Last week, Wiggins steered several bills through the Senate that would end the referee system and replace it with full-time chancellors in counties that do not have a county court.
Youth courts handle cases in which minors are accused of committing crimes, as well as cases in which adults are accused of abusing or neglecting children. A 2004 lawsuit alleged that the state failed to adequately protect children in the care of what was then the Children and Family Services Division of the Department of Human Services. Despite a settlement agreement that required monitoring and a number of systemic reforms, the state has yet to resolve the lawsuit.
Wiggins’ proposed bills are the latest of multiple attempts to create a uniform youth court system, spanning at least three decades. Gov. Tate Reeves listed a uniform youth court as one of his policy recommendations ahead of this year’s legislative session that ends April 6.
Lawmakers look to reshape circuit court lines
Lawmakers are trying to reach an agreement about how to redraw the boundary lines of the state’s circuit and chancery court voting districts. The state Senate and House have passed different redistricting plans, and the two chambers must now negotiate a compromise.
Local judges will run for election next year, so lawmakers must agree on new maps this year.
Circuit courts hear felony criminal cases and civil lawsuits. Chancery courts primarily hear cases involving property law and family matters.
Changing the boundary lines of these districts will in some cases change the judges who hear cases in a particular county. The consequences of these changes could be significant because judges can approach legal matters differently. Some judges, for example, are known for setting high bonds in criminal cases. Others may hand out harsher sentences. And other judges might be more willing to dismiss a case in certain circumstances.
Drawing new judicial districts could also shift the power of Black voters. The Senate plan, when first proposed last year, was sharply criticized by activists for its impact on Black voting power.
The state House’s redistricting plan would ultimately add at least some new Black-majority subdistricts within several circuit court districts. However, the total number of judges would be reduced in the Black-majority Delta region, which is losing population. The House and Senate maps were both opposed by most Black lawmakers when they came up for votes.
Disenfranchisement reform: Dead again?
Efforts to reform Mississippi’s harsh felony disenfranchisement system look dead, yet again.
State House Rep. Price Wallace, a Republican from Mendenhall, had earlier in the session filed several different types of legislation to pursue reform, including a possible constitutional amendment.
However, on a key deadline day last week to advance legislation, Wallace did not bring any of the proposals to a vote by the full House, leaving them procedurally dead for this session. He said he didn’t believe the state Senate would be receptive to any changes.
“In my opinion there wasn't any need in bringing it up if the Senate isn't going to pass it,” Wallace said.
Mississippi’s constitution imposes a lifetime voting ban on people convicted for a range of violent offenses as well as many nonviolent ones, including bad check writing. However, people convicted of many other violent and nonviolent crimes can still vote, even from prison.
Critics say there is little consistency in Mississippi’s system, which is a holdover from the Jim Crow era and continues to disproportionately disenfranchise Black Mississippians.
Last year, a bipartisan coalition of representatives, including Wallace and Democratic Rep. Kabir Karriem, helped pass a bill in the House with broad support to restore voting rights to many people who are currently disenfranchised. The Senate did not take up that measure last year.
Karriem fears that a number of recent comments by Gov. Tate Reeves, a second-term Republican, chilled renewed reform efforts this year.
“The governor is using his bully pulpit to challenge his Republicans,” said Karriem, “but we’re going to continue to advocate.”
Have a question?
Please reach out to us if you would like to know more about a particular bill or the Mississippi criminal justice system. Contact us through this form or jackson@themarshallproject.org. All communications are confidential.
