JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The race for Hinds County District Attorney is a rematch from the 2019 Democratic primary race.

Attorney Darla Palmer is facing incumbent District Attorney Jody Owens, but this time, she’s running as an independent. Her pitch to voters is simple.

“I kind of have a saying that I don’t think that everybody needs to go to jail, but somebody’s going. I think that right now we’re not sending out a message in Jackson, especially, and then throughout the county of Hinds about the amount of violent crime that we have going on. I think that the DA’s office, the district attorney’s office is there for prosecution,” said Palmer.

One of the biggest issues facing the Hinds County legal system is the backlog in cases leading to trial delays. Palmer is confident that if elected, she could chip away at the backlog. 

“Once taking office, I feel that that’s something that I can certainly address head on and to accomplish or to at least get good results from dealing with it,” she said.

One priority for Palmer is addressing Mississippi’s struggling public defender system. Many counties, including Hinds, face critical attorney shortages. 

“I used to be a public defender in Rankin County. It just to be needs to be more of a concerted effort between the DA’s office to work with public defenders. That would be one of my priorities, to ensure that our office is working as efficiently as possible to deal with public defenders, make sure they have their offers, make sure that there are trial dates,” Palmer stated.

In her second campaign for Hinds County DA, the only thing that’s changed is her passion for the office.

“In a position like this, you have got to start to make people feel that they are safe. We’re looking for a change, and we’re looking to those to have those individuals who can represent us,” Palmer said.