Warren County District Attorney’s Office has one of the highest incarceration rates in the state

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — The Warren County District Attorney‘s Office has one of the highest incarceration rates in the state, according to DA, Ricky Smith.

At his desk this morning, District Attorney Ricky Smith outlined some of the numbers from his office.

“Already this year, we have revoked 38 people back to prison. 20 people are in prison on initial pleas,” said Smith. “We are not in the wrist slapping business. We take all these cases very seriously and are very concerned about the protection of our counties.”

Smith and his team were disheartened to hear a mayoral candidate disparage them in a recent debate, saying the DA and Judges need to quit slapping on the wrist.

“Anybody who actually knows how this works, throughout the state, will tell you that the 9th Circuit is the district that will put you in prison,” Smith said.

When a crime occurs, a law enforcement agency collects information and evidence related to that crime. That information is then passed on to the DA’s office for prosecution or to consider a plea deal.

“If the case is strong, that person is going to prison,” said Smith.

However, his office often faces challenges due to a lack of evidence from the scene or uncooperative witnesses and victims.

“On these violent crimes, it is surprising the lack of cooperation from the victim,” said Smith. “The evidence we have, if we don’t believe it is sufficient enough to get a conviction at trial, or we have an uncooperative witness. …we have to work with what we have. We try to get the best plea deal.”

Out of 82 counties in Mississippi, the Warren County District Attorney’s Office has the 12th highest incarceration rate in the state, according to Smith.

“The 11 counties in front of us have larger populations. For our size, we incarcerate at a much higher rate than most counties,” said Smith.

“It’s out of our hands once we have convicted them,” explained Smith. “On anything other than armed robbery or carjacking, they’re eligible for 50% of their sentence.”

That means someone convicted of a crime by Warren County could be sentenced to 10 years and immediately be required to serve only 5 years. Other factors, including overcrowding in the jails, can lead to even shorter sentences.