In Jackson, Mississippi, two courtrooms just a few miles apart are delivering very different kinds of justice.
One is the historic Hinds County Courthouse — old, overworked, and overwhelmed. Some people wait over a year just to have their case heard. The building is aging. The docket is full. And the people who work there say they’re stretched too thin.
The other is brand new. Modern computers. Freshly painted walls. Small caseloads. And no waiting.
But here’s the twist: one court is run by elected officials. The other is not.
Since January, a second courthouse in Jackson has been handling cases — but unlike Hinds County’s, this new court was created by Mississippi’s Republican-led state legislature. Its judges weren’t elected. They were appointed by the state’s Republican chief justice. The prosecutors don’t work for the county. They work for the state’s Republican attorney general, Lynn Fitch.
State leaders say they built the court to deal with rising crime and case backlogs in Jackson. They say it’s helping fix the problem.
But not everyone sees it that way.
The new court sparked protests, lawsuits, and heated debates before it ever opened. Critics say it’s an example of the state taking control of a majority-Black, Democratic city — without the city’s consent. They also point out that the $730,000 spent to launch the new court could have gone to hiring more local police or supporting the existing system.
And Mississippi isn’t alone.
It’s not just Trump. Red states are cracking down on their own blue cities. https://t.co/TE8tslcn8Y
— The Bork Report (@BorkReport) September 8, 2025
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott sent state troopers and the National Guard into major cities during immigration protests. In Louisiana, state police were deployed to patrol New Orleans after a tragic crash downtown. In Missouri, lawmakers gave the state governor the power to appoint a prosecutor for St. Louis. Indiana created a board to investigate local district attorneys.
But in Jackson, Mississippi, the state went a step further — building a full parallel court system and boosting the state-controlled Capitol Police.
That force now has 148 officers, covering a district of just 24 square miles — less than a quarter of the city’s full size. By comparison, the Jackson Police Department has 258 officers for the entire city.
While crime has decreased since its 2021 peak, with fewer homicides in 2023 and 2024, tensions around law enforcement haven’t disappeared.
Some residents say the extra officers help businesses and make people feel safer downtown. Others say the Capitol Police profile Black residents and use too much force. Officers from the department are facing charges in several cases involving fatal shootings and use of force during traffic stops.
At the same time, the new court has been busy. It hears both misdemeanors and felonies. One morning this spring, a judge stopped a young defendant from speaking too much in court and appointed him a lawyer. Observers say the court runs smoothly — but not everyone thinks it should exist.
Cliff Johnson, a professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law, said the court is professional, but the money behind it should have been used to improve the system already in place.
Mayor John Horhn, a Democrat who just took office in July, opposed the new court when he was a state senator. He now says the extra police presence is a “necessary evil,” but believes Jackson should keep control of its own future.
Meanwhile, state leaders like Governor Tate Reeves and Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell continue to support the project, saying it’s part of a long-term effort to restore law and order in the state’s capital city.
As for the future of Jackson’s two courts — only time will tell whether they can work together or whether the split system will deepen the city’s divide.
