Hinds County Public Defender Gail Wright Lowery asked the Hinds County Board of Supervisors on Monday to approve a $350,000 equity adjustment to raise starting pay for assistant public defenders to parity with one county-funded assistant district attorney, saying the move is needed to avert a constitutional crisis.
Lowery told supervisors that assistant public defenders in Hinds County earn, on average, more than $50,000 less than their prosecutor counterparts. She said her office has averaged two staff vacancies since she took office in 2020 and has seen nearly 20 attorney resignations during her tenure.
Lowery said the staffing shortages have intensified since the Mississippi Legislature added a fifth circuit court judge in Hinds County last year, increasing criminal dockets and workloads. She said the Raymond Detention Center is at “emergency” levels and that a recent review cited by her office found people jailed for months without an indictment, including several held more than a year…