HINDS COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Hinds County and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are at odds over a Hinds County jail system takeover.
The Northside Sun reported Hinds County officials said the 2016 consent decree for the Hinds County jail system needs to be dropped. However, DOJ leaders said the county has disregarded the requirements of the decree and the jail system needs to be taken over.
In 2015, the Raymond Detention Center was sued for inhumane conditions by the DOJ. The DOJ stated the county wasn’t doing enough to protect inmates from violence from other prisoners, staff was allowed to use improper force, inmates were detained beyond court and there were issues with improper housing and isolating prisoners. In 2016, the county agreed to improve jail conditions.
The newspaper reported DOJ officials filed a brief on January 27, 2022 stating the jail system should be taken over due to the county’s non-compliance with the decree. They stated the county only complied with three of the 92 decree conditions.
An evidentiary hearing will be held on Monday, February 14 in Jackson when U.S. Judge Carlton Reeves will determine whether the federal government can take over the Hinds County jail system.