Months after a separate court with state-appointed judges in Jackson was authorized to start work, individuals arrested in the Capitol Complex Improvement District are still being seen by elected Hinds County judges and are being held in area jails.
The Capitol Complex Improvement District court was set to begin at the beginning of the year, but to date it does not have a space to operate, judges to hear cases, prosecutors or a system to manage cases, officials said.
“This court is currently in the process of being established,” Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bailey Martin wrote in a Wednesday email.
The CCID Court was authorized through House Bill 1020, signed in 2023 despite receiving pushback from Jackson lawmakers and community members and hours-long committee and floor debates.
Opponents saw the court as overtaking Hinds County residents’ rights to elect judges from their own community, like any Mississippi voter is able to do. This argument became a focus of a state and federal lawsuit challenging the legislation.
Supporters, on the other hand, saw the bill as a way to address crime in the capital city and give the overworked Hinds County Circuit Court more support.
Capitol Police is managed by the state Department of Public Safety and started patrolling the Capitol Complex District in 2021. That district includes downtown and extends to Jackson State University and the Jackson Medical Mall in the west, Lefleur’s Bluff and nearby museums in the east, Belhaven and as of July 1, north to Northside Drive.
HB 1020 also gave the state force concurrent jurisdiction in Jackson.
Those arrested by Capitol Police in the CCID for felonies and misdemeanors such as domestic violence and driving under the influence are held at the Hinds County Detention Center before trial, said Martin, the DPS spokesperson.
Those with other misdemeanor charges are taken to the Rankin County Jail pretrial. She said some are also given field release citations and don’t have to be taken to either facility.
Because the CCID court is not running yet, when those arrested go before a judge, they have an initial appearance before a Hinds County judge, Martin said.
HB 1020 calls for people convicted in the CCID court to be housed at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, which hasn’t happened yet because the court is not operating, the DPS spokesperson said. Typically, those convicted of misdemeanors serve time in jail.
The former Continental Trailways bus station west of the Mississippi State Fairgrounds will be the site of the CCID court, and renovations are expected to be complete by Oct. 1, said Beverly Kraft, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Michael Randolph will appoint one judge and Attorney General Lynn Fitch will appoint two prosecutors to work in the CCID court. Under the law, Randolph also was to appoint four temporary judges to work in the Hinds County Circuit Court. But the state Supreme Court struck down that portion of the law, saying it could not survvive constitutional scrutiny.
Randolph has interviewed judge applicants, but has not announced an appointment, Kraft said.
When asked about prosecutor appointments and the status for the CCID court, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said there was no new information to share.
The court appointments have been a focus of the federal lawsuit challenging HB 1020, and they have been limited by a previous stay and a temporary injunction.
Randolph was sued in the lawsuit and after months of court hearings, many of which he attended in Jackson, he was removed as a defendant.
Hires will also be made for a clerk and support staff. Kraft said interviews for the clerk position are expected to be conducted this month.
A request for proposals for a case management system has been issued, and proposals are due Aug. 27, with the vendor’s work expected to begin the second week of September. A requirement to submit a proposal is having a fully implemented system currently operating in a municipal court that is a comparable size and scope to the CCID court, according to the RFP.
The MacArthur Justice Center is also anticipating the start of the CCID court. The criminal justice and legal group started a court watch group in the spring.
Watch groups, which exist across the country, bring in trained volunteers who sit in on proceedings in various courts – criminal, civil, family and more – and document outcomes. The goal is to provide transparency and accountability and to let judges and prosecutors know their actions are being observed.
UPDATE 8/5/24: This story has been corrected to note the provision of the law that the Mississippi Supreme Court struck down.
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