In 2023 as lawmakers were passing the bill that would establish a state-appointed court within Jackson, there was talk about appointing “the best and the brightest” judges from around the state to serve – a comment some Black legislators said implied they couldn’t be found within a majority Black Hinds County.
Over a year later, the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court is set to open next week, and three judges with roots in Jackson and live in the capital have been appointed to serve.
The judges who were sworn in during a Friday ceremony said they were interested in the positions because they wanted to serve the community where many of them grew up and live.
“This is a very serious undertaking to citizens who live in this city,” said Judge Christopher Collins, who will serve on a part-time basis. He moved to Jackson for the role.
Judge Stanley Alexander and James Holland will be the full-time judges.
Alexander is a former assistant district attorney in multiple judicial districts and he worked in the attorney general’s office, including as director of the Division of Public Integrity. Holland has practiced law for over 40 years and has trial experience, including defense in state and federal courts. He ran an unsuccessful race for Hinds County district attorney in 2015.
Collins has been a prosecutor and public defender. His judicial experience includes work as a circuit and municipal judge, intervention court judge and a judge for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Bryana Smith McDougal was appointed as the court’s clerk. She previously was judicial assistant to former Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens and an assistant deputy clerk for the Supreme Court. She grew up in Jackson and lives in Madison.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph, who appointed the judges and clerk, said he considered many from across the state and took recommendations. It was through letters of recommendation and conversations with the three judges that showed that they were the best for the position.
“These judges have proven themselves,” Randolph said.
House Bill 1020, passed in 2023, created the court. The CCID court was supposed to be operating last year, but it waited on a building to operate. Now business will begin operation Monday at 8 a.m. at its renovated facility at 201 S. Jefferson St., a former bus terminal in downtown.
The CCID court will hear misdemeanor cases and initial appearances for felonies investigated by Capitol Police. Those cases have been handled in the existing Hinds County court system during the interim.
“We want to stay current (with cases.) Our goal is to support and supplement the current court system,” Holland said.
At the Friday ceremony, Gov. Tate Reeves said the court and the ongoing work of Capitol Police will help make Jackson safer.
“Make no mistake. Jackson’s best days are ahead of us,” he said.
Reeves stood alongside various government officials, law enforcement and lawmakers, including House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, who authored HB 1020, and Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell, whose agency includes Capitol Police.
Lamar said the court will be for the regular people of Jackson who want to have their kids play safely in their yards, people who want an efficient and blind justice system and families who will be supported by future jobs that come to the city.
HB 1020 also expanded the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police from within the district to Jackson. The district covers downtown, the area around Jackson State University, Belhaven, the hospitals, Fondren and up to Northside Drive. A bill has been proposed this session to expand the district even further.
In recent years, Capitol Police has been built up from a former security force for government buildings into a law enforcement agency.
The court and police expansion were touted as solutions to crime and a backlogged Hinds County court system. Pushback came from Jackson lawmakers, advocacy groups and community members and two lawsuits were filed, but they have since been resolved.
Prosecutors from the attorney general office’s Public Integrity Unit were also appointed to work in the CCID court, but they were not announced Friday. A spokesperson said their identities will be known once the court opens.
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