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Report: Thousands of people held longer than 90 days in Mississippi jails

A new report says about 2,700 people have been held longer than 90 days in Mississippi county jails.

Credit: AP

Cliff Johnson, director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, is shown speaking to state lawmakers about prisons in this Feb. 13, 2020 file photograph, at the Mississippi State Capitol. A report released by the center on Jan. 12, 2022, says thousands of people in Mississippi are held in county jails for long periods while waiting to go on trial because they are too poor to afford bail, judges may deny bail altogether or public defenders might not be available when they're needed. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

JACKSON, Miss — Thousands of people in Mississippi continue to be jailed for long periods while waiting to go on trial because they are too poor to afford bail, judges may deny bail altogether or public defenders might not be available when they’re needed.

That's according to a new report from the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

It says about 2,700 people have been held longer than 90 days in Mississippi county jails.

Of those, more than 1,000 have been jailed at least nine months and about 730 have been jailed more than a year.