DeSoto County’s district attorney is sending out his legislative priorities for the new year.
Some of those items include banning social media for those 13 and under, a new crime lab in DeSoto County and the creation of what he calls the Mississippi Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program.
D.A. Matthew Barton says this list is essentially a wish list saying these are the items are about enhancing public safety while also protecting a growing county.
“We are investing millions of tax dollars into convention centers, arenas, and infrastructure in DeSoto County, which are great for the economic attractiveness of our area,” said District Attorney Barton. “However, if we don’t ensure public safety keeps pace with these investments, we risk creating the next Mall of Memphis or Whitehaven, where crime will ultimately undermine these developments.
Barton says with the county being the third-largest in Mississippi and growing, it is time to make sure some $200 million worth of investments are protected.
One priority is gathering funding for a crime lab in DeSoto County. Barton says this is a proposal to assist local leaders in creating a lab that aims to share the costs between the county and cities in northwest Mississippi.
This metro crime lab would help reduce the backlog of cases and prevent some cases from reaching the statute of limitations.
Another item is the creation of a state illegal alien-certified bounty program.
Barton says this program is similar to Crimestoppers, and will allow tips to come in for any illegal immigrants that may need to come in.
He says this is all in preparation for President-elect Trump’s initiative of reducing the number of undocumented or illegal immigrants.
“I think that this could be a state-wide program that would really help,” Barton said. “I talked to ICE a few times and you know, they just have, they only have so many people you know working for ICE and the federal government. When you get the citizens involved in a way that is safe it just speeds things along.”
Barton said the county needs to protect investments like convention centers, arenas and infrastructure in DeSoto County.
He clarified that he still has love and respect for the Bluff City.
“If you ask the business owners there, which I do, they are going to tell you they are not happy with the way Memphis has dealt with crime historically. Memphis deserves better, quite frankly, than the inadequacies they’ve been having with public safety. My whole point is if we don’t do more while we are building DeSoto County up it’s just going to look like a mirror reflection of the failures Memphis has had.”
The full list of proposed legislative priorities from Barton:
1. Redefine Burglary Tools to Include Auto Programmers With rising auto burglaries in counties near Memphis, the District Attorney’s Office is proposing a legislative change to explicitly include auto programmers as “burglary tools” under Mississippi law, empowering law enforcement to better address the emerging issue of grand theft auto in DeSoto County and elsewhere.
2. Establishment of a Law Enforcement Training Academy in DeSoto County A proposal for a dedicated law enforcement training academy in DeSoto County to reduce training costs for municipalities and enhance recruitment efforts, improving the quality of policing across Mississippi’s third-largest county.
3. Introduce Legislation for Harsher Penalties in Extreme Cases of Human Torture A proposal to protect victims from acts of extreme cruelty, which would carry a minimum 30-year sentence and the possibility of life in prison.
4. Creation of the Mississippi Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program The Office is proposing a program to certify licensed bail bond agents as bounty hunters focused on locating undocumented immigrants. This program would streamline enforcement of federal immigration priorities with the incoming administration.
5. Transfer the Authority to Determine the Method of Execution A proposal to transfer the authority to determine execution methods from the Department of Corrections to a jury, judge or board, ensuring that executions of death-row inmates are carried out in a more cost-effective and fair manner for victims.
6. Legislation that Bans Social Media Accounts for Minors In response to growing concerns about social media’s negative impact on children, D.A. Barton proposes a bill that would ban minors under 13 from having social media accounts, aiming to protect them from online exploitation, cyberbullying, and mental health risks.
7. Preventing a Judicial Bottleneck by Adding Judges in DeSoto County DeSoto County, one of the fastest-growing counties in Mississippi, is facing a critical shortage of circuit and chancery judges. The growing caseload has created a bottleneck, which prevents timely prosecution of cases. Without additional judges and prosecutors, the courts will struggle to advance, and justice will be delayed. D.A. Barton is urging the legislature to address this issue during judicial redistricting this year, advocating for more judges and prosecutors to keep the judicial system moving forward.
8. Metro DeSoto Crime Lab Funding A proposal to assist local leaders in funding a crime lab in Northwest Mississippi that aims to share the costs between the county and cities. This metro crime lab well help reduce the backlog of cases and prevent some cases from reaching statute of limitations.