A trend in Georgia among several fine-prone cities is also taking place in Mississippi among three cities heavily dependent on revenue from fines and forfeitures.

A recently released report by the Institute for Justice spotlighted how three Peach State cities have become dependent on fines for a larger chunk of their revenues.

Three Georgia cities — Morrow, Riverdale and Clarkston — had large jumps in terms of real dollars and percentage of revenue from fines, which can include traffic citations and code enforcement after the recession in 2009. All three also had concurrent drops in other revenues as city officials tried to use fine income to fill the shortfall.

A similar trend in Mississippi has unfolded with three of the top cities statewide in — State Line, Walls and Magee — terms of fines and forfeitures per resident. The Mississippi Center for Public Policy analyzed data from the Mississippi state Auditor’s Office and found that all three had substantial increases both in terms of percentage of revenues and total dollars in the last decade from 2008 to 2017. 

State Line and Walls both had substantial drops in revenues outside of fines and forfeitures since 2008, while overall revenue in Magee has increased since 2008. Magee is a popular stopping point on Highway 49; State Line and Walls aren't as conveniently located.

State Line (population 539) is in both Greene and Wayne counties and has the highest amount of forfeitures per resident at $240.41 per resident as of 2017.

The city’s percentage of revenue from fines and forfeitures has increased in recent years.

In 2003, the city had $1,062,594 in revenue, but only $25,371 in fines and forfeitures, which represented 2.39 percent of the city’s revenues.

The biggest jump happened from 2008 to 2015. In 2008, nearly seven percent ($35,289) of the city’s $504,774 in revenues came from fines and forfeitures. By 2015, the total revenues for State Line dropped to $302,748, with $90,710 in fines and forfeitures making up a startling 29.96 percent.

In the first five years of reports, State Line averaged $722,375 in annual revenues and $33,853 from fines and forfeitures, an average of 5.63 percent. 

Now the city gets a larger chunk of its revenue from its court system as tax collections have fallen. In the last three years from 2015 to 2017, the city’s revenues have decreased to an average of $361,427 with fines and forfeitures averaging $96,645. On average, fines and forfeitures have accounted for 26.34 percent of the total revenues.

Fines and forfeitures in State Line, Mississippi

Walls is a town of (1,379 population) in DeSoto County and was ranked first in a recent study by Governing magazine which rank cities and towns nationwide on the amount of their budgets coming from fines and forfeitures. Walls ranked second with 26.53 percent of its general fund budget from fines and forfeitures in 2017. It was 19.5 percent for all revenues, including the utility fund. 

Except for one outlier in 2006, when fines and forfeitures made up 19.32 percent of the city’s budget, the percentage of city revenues dependent on fines and forfeitures was in single digits. 

In 2013, the percentage of the city’s revenues ($941,915) sourced from fines and forfeitures ($152,788)crossed the 15 percent threshold and hasn’t gone lower since.  

Fines and forfeitures in Walls, Mississippi

Magee was third, with its $595,238 in fines and forfeitures in 2017 adding up to $141.89 for each one of its 4,195 residents. This accounted for 12.5 percent of the Simpson County city’s $4.7 million in revenues in 2017.

In 2008, 7.06 percent of the city’s $4,224,745 in revenues came from fines and forfeitures ($298,430). By 2017, both the percentage (12.5 percent) and in total dollars ($595,238) doubled or had nearly doubled in just nine years.

Fines and forfeitures in Magee, Mississippi

As children in Mississippi and around the country prepare for a night of trick-or-treating, they may unknowingly run afoul with local laws.

These aren’t laws restricting criminal actions often associated with Halloween mischief, such as egging a house or smashing pumpkins that belong to someone else. Rather, these are restrictions on who can trick-or-treat, how late they can be out, and what they can or can’t wear.

A story on Roanoke, Virginia’s trick-or-treating laws went viral last year. In Roanoke, no one over 12 is allowed to trick-or-treat. Not only is it illegal, it is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

While the potential jail time might not apply, the city of Meridian also prohibits those over 12 from asking for candy. “It shall be unlawful for any person to appear on the streets, highways, public homes, private homes, or public places in the city to make trick or treat visitations; except, that this section shall not apply to children 12 years old and under on Halloween night,” the ordinance reads. And you have to be inside by 8 p.m.

Throughout the country, towns like Belville, Illinois, Bishopville, South Carolina, and Boonsboro, Maryland have similar age limits.

Meridian also restricts anyone over 12 from wearing a mask or any other disguise, unless they get a permission slip from the mayor or chief of police. Dublin, Georgia and Walnut Creek, California have similar mask restrictions.

The rest of your costume may also be illegal in some locales. In Alabama, it’s illegal to dress up as a minister, priest, nun, or any other member of clergy. Violators can be slapped with a $500 fine and a year in jail.

In a recent move that received national attention, the Kemper County Board of Supervisors approved a measure in 2016 that made it illegal for anyone to appear in public in a clown costume or clown makeup for Halloween that year. The ordinance expired the day after Halloween. That ordinance carried a fine of $150 for outlaws who wore clown costumes.

The conventional wisdom is that these ordinances aren’t enforced. Police aren’t asking boys who are starting to show signs of facial hair for identification to check their age. Chances are no one is spending 365 days in a county jail in Alabama for impersonating a priest or rabbi.

Which, of course, leads to the next question: Why have such laws? We already have laws on the books to restrict actual criminal activity. We don’t need additional laws that are confusing and do little but potentially ruin a fun night for millions of children.

We simply have too many laws in this country. It should not be government’s responsibility to regulate the behavior of children on a Halloween night running through the neighborhood in pursuit of treats. That responsibility belongs to the parents, just like it should on every other night of the year.

In this episode of Unlicensed, we talk about the MJI lawsuit against the city of Jackson over a new ordinance that will ban protestors near an abortion clinic. Should the government be allowed to outlaw speech they don't like?

The Mississippi Justice Institute and members of Sidewalk Advocates for Life – Jackson, Mississippi announced a challenge to Jackson’s new prohibition on counseling and other free speech outside the state’s only abortion facility today.

The new ordinance bans individuals who are near health facilities from approaching within eight feet of any person without consent, for the purpose of engaging in various forms of speech such as counseling or education or distributing leaflets; bans people from congregating or demonstrating within fifteen feet of the abortion facility, and bans any amplified sound.

Violations of the ordinance could result in fines of up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail. 

“Our clients are engaging in quintessential free speech, and they are doing so peacefully and respectfully,” said Aaron Rice, Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute. “They care deeply for the unborn and feel morally led to offer life-affirming alternatives to people entering an abortion facility. Jackson’s new ordinance is an attempt to silence our clients’ speech, and we are proud to stand with them and defend their rights.

“Regardless of what anyone thinks of our clients’ views, we all should recognize that they have the right to hold those views. And just as importantly, they have the right to express those views, and to try to convince others to adopt their views. That is the very meaning of a free society.” 

In the past five years, Sidewalk Advocates for Life has trained thousands of volunteers to go to abortion facilities to simply offer loving, life-affirming alternatives to abortion. In that time, nearly 7,000 women and families have freely chosen the help provided and given life to their children.

“Women regularly accept our offer to help in the midst of an unexpected pregnancy, said Pam Miller, Co-Leader of Sidewalk Advocates for Life – Mississippi.“In fact, in partnership with other peaceful community members, more women than ever -- at least 30 this year alone -- have opted to take advantage of the free, alternative resources the Jackson community provides. We are committed to connecting women with the loving, life-affirming assistance they deserve, and we will continue to serve the women of Mississippi in a peaceful and law-abiding way.” 

The lawsuit was filed in Hinds County Circuit Court. A copy of the complaint can be found here. 

The town of State Line earned the most per capita in fines and forfeitures in the state.

This is according to an analysis of data from the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

State Line (population 539) earned $129,581 in 2017 from fines and forfeitures or about $240.41 per resident. This represented 32.1 percent of the city’s revenues ($403,106 in 2017).

In 2016, the town, which is in both Greene and Wayne counties, earned $69,644 in fines and forfeitures ($129.20 per citizen) and $90,710 in 2015 ($168.29 per). This represented 21.7 percent of the city’s revenue in 2016 ($319,871) and 25.1 percent in 2015 ($361,304).

Walls was second, averaging $172.93 per citizen in fines and forfeitures after earning $238,476. The small DeSoto county town (1,379 population) was ranked first in a study by Governing magazine which rank cities and towns nationwide on the amount of their budgets coming from fines and forfeitures.

The town sourced 26.53 percent of its budget from fines and forfeitures in 2017. Walls had 25.7 percent of its budget originating from fines and forfeitures in 2015 and 32.2 percent in 2014.

Magee was third, with its $595,238 in fines and forfeitures in 2017 adding up to $141.89 for each one of its 4,195 residents. This accounted for 24.3 percent of the Simpson County city’s $2.45 million in revenues in 2017.

Sixteen Mississippi cities earned at least $1 million in fines and forfeitures and only one of them, Flowood, was in the top 10 per capita. The average for residents in cities and towns was $32.54.

Flowood, a Rankin County city, was fourth, with its $1,051,453 in fines and forfeitures in 2017 adding up to $112.19 per citizen. With Flowood’s revenues exceeding $19.6 million in 2017, this represented only 6.4 percent of the city’s budget.

Ecru, in Pontotoc County was fifth, with $110,198 in fines and forfeitures in 2018. This added up to $106.99 per each one of the town’s 1,030 residents. These fines and forfeitures represented 6.8 percent of the town’s $1.62 million in revenues.

Bruce was the final town to earn $100 or more per citizen in fines and forfeitures. In 2017, the city earned $196,744 in revenue from fines and forfeitures. This represented 11.42 percent of the city’s $1.72 million in revenues.

According to a data analysis by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, the vast majority of forfeitures by law enforcement are not from traffic stops on the interstates. 

Data from two-plus years of the state’s forfeiture database show that 35 out of 292 forfeitures from counties along an interstate route (11.9 percent) were from traffic stops along interstates.

Of the 590 forfeitures since the database went online two years ago, 48.3 percent of them came from counties with an interstate.

We analyzed forfeiture entries from the database from the counties along the three interstates. Most mentioned whether the seizure was from a traffic stop and the general location, but with much of the relevant data missing. 

The law requires law enforcement agencies to report the value of the seizure and the date, but doesn’t mandate the exact location, direction of travel by the property owners, amount of drugs (if any) seized and whether any charges were filed against the property owners.

Information on contraband seized at these interstate stops is minimal, as only three of the entries in the database have exact quantities and type of drugs. Fifteen mentioned the presence of illegal drugs without providing the quantity or even type of contraband. Seventeen had no mention of drugs and two of these seizures, both in Rankin County, were of hidden, sealed bags of cash. 

According to the database, only 25 out of the 100 forfeitures from counties along the route of Interstate 20 originated from traffic stops along the interstate.

The numbers for Interstate 55 are even more revealing, as only eight out of 159 forfeitures from the counties along I-55 originated from traffic stops on the interstate. 

The same story was on Interstate 59, where only two out of 33 forfeitures were from traffic stops on the interstate.

Despite the low number of seizures, most are lucrative, averaging $67,261 per forfeiture. On I-20, the average stop netted $64,821, while I-55 stops were worth only $18,579 per forfeiture.

No busts along I-20’s 154.5 mile route occurred in Warren, Newton or Lauderdale counties. All of the interstate forfeitures occurred in Hinds (four out of 52 forfeitures), Rankin (13 out of 27) and Scott counties (eight out of 17).

As for I-55, eight of the counties — Lincoln, Copiah, Yazoo, Holmes, Yalobusha, Montgomery, Grenada and Tate — along the 290-mile route in Mississippi reported no forfeitures from interstate traffic stops.

All of the I-55 forfeitures occurred in Pike (three out of 19 forfeitures), Panola (one of nine) and DeSoto counties (three of 112).

Only Jasper and Lamar counties recorded seizures in the 171 miles of the I-59 corridor.

In this episode of Unlicensed, we talk about civil asset forfeiture, what the database in Mississippi shows, and how we can keep our communities safe while still protecting property rights.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy continues to perform an analysis of the data from the civil asset forfeiture database and the results continue to raise more questions than they answer.

The law — which created the database — has been in effect for two years now and there have been 476 seizures as of September 20 (there were 315 by January), with a total value of $4,294,535. 

The average seizure has increased slightly from $7,490 per seizure in the initial analysis done in January in the database’s first 18 months online to $7,952. 

While that sounds like a substantial increase, there are several outliers that skew the numbers. Ten of the seizures were of $100,000 or more and the sum of those added up to $2,042,206 or 47 percent of all seizures. Those 10 seizures had an average value of $204,220, but only represented 2.1 percent of all seizures.

The highest dollar seizure remains the bust of several vape shops for selling spice (synthetic cannabinoids) by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. MBN seized $644,421 in cash in Rankin County on August 5, 2018. 

Removing the seizures of $100,000 or more lowers the average to $4,837. The average of the seizures with a total value of less than $50,000 was $4,274 and represented 96.6 percent of all seizures.

The vast majority of seizures, 399 according to the database, were less than $10,000, representing 83.8 percent of all seizures. Even smaller were 161 seizures for less than $1,000 or 33.8 percent of the total.

What was seized is also instructive. Most seizures (376 out of 476) involved currency and those averaged about $9,662. There were also 264 weapons seized, worth an average of $357 per firearm. 

There were 89 vehicles seized, with an average value of $5,727. 

Among the more unusual items included an Xbox One video game system (the department valued it at $129) that was forfeited to the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department on June 10. Agents found 14 grams of marijuana, 100 THC-infused vape cartridges and some edibles at the home of the Xbox’s owner, who also lost a 2014 Ford Mustang to forfeiture.

A collectible $5 bill from 1963 (valued at $100 according to the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department) was seized on May 6 along with $10,314 in cash in a drug bust that included methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy, alprazolam, carisoprodol and hydrocodone.  The forfeiture was contested in court.

There were also four televisions that were also forfeited. 

The picture the database paints is incomplete, since the law requires only law enforcement agencies to list the description and value of the item seized, a copy of the notice to intent to forfeit, any petitions by property owners to contest the forfeiture and any judge’s order that would include those that cover final disposition of the seized property.

There are no requirements that law enforcement agencies list the type of drug that was involved with the seizure, the circumstances of the seizure or whether charges were filed in connection with the seizure. 

Some law enforcement agencies, including the North Mississippi Narcotics Unit, include the related incident report that provides maximum transparency with the drug type and quantity, circumstances of the arrest, charges (if any) and the location. 

Others provide this information, such as the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department, in the notice to forfeit.

Jackson’s crime problem not only impacts the city, it impacts the entire state.

As we talked about in a previous story from our look into Jackson this week, Mississippi’s capitol city has seen a disturbing spike in violent crime. But what can we do about it?

Just send more people to jail?

Usually when people discuss issues of crime and discouraging crime, the idea of longer prison sentences is floated. But this idea goes against evidence that points to what works and what is recommended by corrections officials.  

Prison should work to reform people who want to turn their lives around and separate those who don’t want to be reformed from the rest of society. However, without incentives to participate in any programming, people who would truly want to turn their lives around leave incarceration worse than when they entered.

Incarceration used as a means to deter crime is a myth. 

Research proves that people are more influenced by whether they will be caught at all and whether they will be convicted quickly. Swift and certain sanctions deter crime better than long periods of incarceration.

Many states have proven they can reduce both crime and incarceration in the last decade. 

Here are some real solutions that would help alleviate some of Jackson’s crime issues. 

Prioritize diversion and treatment.

Currently, people with addiction issues and those convicted of serious violent offenses are treated much in the same way – they’re sent to the same jail and prosecuted criminally, then they serve time in prison and time on supervision afterwards. 

The problem with this approach for people who struggle with addiction is that drug usage is rampant in prison. The city and state are paying to incarcerate someone for using drugs, while they continue to use drugs in jail and after release. There’s a better way to address this problem by implementing treatment diversion programs that connect people with drug treatment programs.

These have been successfully implemented in jurisdictions around the country, and are proven to be more effective than the traditional approach. 

Focus supervision resources on serious offenses. Place a maximum cap on probation lengths and reduce the number of people jailed and imprisoned for minor technical violations. 

Currently, probation and parole agents are massively overloaded, having to supervise over a hundred people each. This makes it impossible for them to adequately supervise people. Some people are on probation or parole for up to five years, although research shows that most crimes are committed within the first two years. Capping probation times at three years could allow officers to provide more supervision to those who most need it.  

And focus resources of people with serious offenses by eliminating imprisonment for technical violations. 

Prioritize jail space for people who pose a danger to public safety. 

By focusing on serious offenses, the city can reduce the number of people jailed for petty misdemeanors.

As Gov. Phil Bryant discussed in his State of the State address earlier this year: Reforms might be labeled soft on crime, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Conservative states around the country have pioneered this approach, and Mississippi would do well to learn from them. 

Jackson does not have to have a crime problem just because it’s a large city. Over the previous two decades, we have seen cities revitalized and made safer. A very important step in that process is making residents, or potential residents, feel safe. 

By continuing to implement smart reforms, we can make Jackson, and every city in the state, safer.

This week, Mississippi Center for Public Policy will be looking into the underlying reasons as to why Jackson is struggling, exploring the legislative and regulatory climate which encourages migration and business stagnation both within our capital city, and across the state.