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Twenty-seven percent more rape kits were sent to the state crime lab in 2024 than the year before in Mississippi.

The increase is thanks in part to a law passed in 2023 to streamline rape kit processing, which officials say resulted in more rape kits making it to the crime lab. However, because Mississippi has no complete rape kit inventory, it’s impossible to tell what impact it made on the backlog.  

While variation from year to year is normal, the crime lab has not seen an influx that large in previous years – likely signifying the legislation’s effect, explained Commissioner Sean Tindell of the Department of Public Safety. 

But Tindell added that he could not say how many kits, if any, are still getting stalled along the way.

House Bill 485 mandated law enforcement pick up rape kits from hospitals within 24 hours of being contacted, and that they transport the kits to the forensic lab within seven calendar days. It also created a sexual assault task force, whose members designed a system for survivors to track their rape kit as it changes hands. 

The tracking system went into operation September 2024, Tindell said. Any rape victim who had a kit done after then can track the status of the kit by putting its serial number into the online system. 

The idea was that rape kits could would no longer sit indefinitely in hospital refrigerators or in the trunks of cop cars, and that survivors would be kept in the know – the way patients are for any other hospital procedure.

“They leave the hospital and they don’t know where their kit is, they never hear anything. Can you imagine getting a cancer test and nobody ever calls you back to tell you what it was? For months or years or ever?” asked Ilse Knecht, policy director at End the Backlog, an organization seeking justice for sexual assault survivors through policy work around rape kits. 

Backlogged rape kits have long been problem across the U.S. – one that first sparked public outcry in 1999 when it was discovered that New York City was sitting on 17,000 untested rape kits. 

“What happened later was that the mayor decided to test them all, which was a years-long process, and there were very important and interesting cases that came out of that,” explained Knecht. “And it started to catch on, the other states started to look at what they had. And we started to get a sense of what was going on across the country.”

The root of the problem isn’t as simple as underfunded crime labs or a lack of resources in law enforcement agencies, Knecht said. It’s also a matter of culture, with some kits never being tested because victims aren’t believed. 

“If they’re not the perfect victim, the case is going to be closed before it’s even opened.”

The Mississippi Prosecutors’ Association did not respond to a request for comment on whether the increase in submissions to the crime lab has led to an increase in prosecutions. 

Knecht, who has 25 years of experience working in this area, joined End the Backlog in 2015, when she helped develop the group’s policy directives. After collaborating with dozens of sexual assault survivors and various professionals handling rape kits, her team came up with six pillars intended to guide states toward policies to enact meaningful and feasible change.

Mississippi’s 2023 legislation led to the adoption of three of the six pillars End the Backlog recommends: mandating the timely testing of all new kits; implementing mechanisms for survivors to easily find out about the status of their kits; and creating a tracking system for victims. 

The other three pillars, which Mississippi does not have, are: implementing an annual statewide inventory of kits; mandating submission and testing of all backlogged kits; and allocating funding to submit, test and track kits.

The timeline the 2023 legislation imposed on law enforcement is more than reasonable, according to Ken Winter, executive director of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police.

“It absolutely has not taken more staff or resources,” Winter said. “The only thing it’s taking is somebody paying attention to the process and making sure the evidence is handled in a timely manner – and they should be doing that anyways.”

House Bill 485 was a bipartisan effort led by Rep. Angela Cockerham, I-Magnolia, and co-authored by Reps. Dana McLean, R-Columbus; Jill Ford, R-Madison; and Otis Anthony, D-Indianola.

McLean said she believed the legislation was the first step to getting justice for sexual assault survivors. 

But she later became aware that some rape victims have trouble earlier in the process – getting a rape kit done in the first place. McLean fought to change that this past session, and successfully oversaw the passage of a bill requiring hospitals to stock and perform rape kits. 

What makes the problem still more complicated in Mississippi – and four other states – is that the state has not mandated an inventory of rape kits. There is no way to tell the extent of Mississippi’s backlog – or at what point in the process the kits are getting backlogged.

McLean said she hopes to make a mandatory statewide inventory her focus next legislative session. 

The issue is dimensional, said Knecht. But the message of the movement is simple: to tell survivors that what they did by receiving a rape kit mattered. 

“All of this was created to keep a promise to survivors,” Knecht said. “And to society because guess what – these kits represent dangerous people on the street. And when they’re not tested, we have 100 pages of stories of crimes that maybe could have been prevented if a rape kit had just been tested.”

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The Mississippi Board of Education voted to receive public comment on whether to eliminate the state U.S. history test as a high school graduation requirement.

The Commission on School Accreditation had voted in a special meeting on April 15 to eliminate the test. Chief Accountability Officer Paula Vanderford argued the benefits of eliminating the test, noting scores from the U.S. history test aren’t included in the Mississippi Department of Education’s accountability report cards. 

If approved, the statewide U.S. History Mississippi Academic Assessment Program test would no longer be a graduation requirement beginning this fall. Mississippi students would still be required to take and pass U.S. history class to graduate from high school. Those who had to repeat senior year of high school would have to take other options. Vanderford suggested requiring a college and career readiness course as an alternative.

Getting rid of the test, she said, would save the state money and add more weight to the other three state assessments: Algebra, Biology, and English.

The board voted to open the move to public comment period. After that, it will come back to the board for a final vote in June. 

“One point that we talked about in the subcommittee and have talked about at great length with the accountability task force is that we’re one of the few states with high stakes assessments or high-stakes end-of-course assessments for graduation, so it’s been quite a number of years since we’ve taken a look at that to see if we wanted to go with a different route,” said Vanderford.

Some members of the board expressed concern that taking out the history test would have a negative impact on students’ historical knowledge. 

Mary Werner, who voted against removing the test, stated “I think history is so important, and American history is just…even from a former English teacher’s point of view, if you don’t have the history, you have a hard time understanding the literature,” said Mary Werner, who did not support removing the test. She voted not to move the issue to public comment.

Vanderford explained that passing the history course would be enough to demonstrate mastery of the subject.

Board of Education Chair Glen East was also expressed concerned, but said he was confident that Mississippi’s history curriculum was strong. He ultimately voted to move the issue to public comment. “I do not see us going backwards based on the plain increase in the curriculum and the rigor we have placed on it.”

Kelly Riley, executive director of Mississippi Professional Educators, commented that she wasn’t surprised by the decision. “I think due to the evolving accreditation model as well as the amount of time that is required to be spent preparing for and administering state tests, I can’t say that I’m surprised by today’s decision,” she said.

Correction 4/17/24: This story has been updated to reflect that the decision to drop the U.S. History assessment still must go through a public comment period.

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More than a hundred people gathered Wednesday outside of We Will Go Ministries to celebrate the groundbreaking of Leonard Court near Farish Street.

The nearly $30 million project, more than four years in the making, will restore and rebuild 67 homes in the historic neighborhood located near downtown Jackson. 

Dorothy Davis, Executive Director of Farish Street Community of Shalom, said she wants to see the neighborhood return to how it was when she was a child growing up in the Farish Street community. 

“Everybody was so welcoming and looked after each other that that’s what I want to see again, the close knit community, and I think that’s what it’s going to be. A close knit community that says, ‘We all love each other.’ And when you have love, that’s it,” Davis said.

The Leonard Court project includes one to four bedroom homes that will be dedicated affordable housing for residents who earn 60% of the area median income. The single family homes and duplexes will be outfitted with washers and dryers, smart thermostats and an outdoor community space.

“We’re so glad to see Gulf Coast Housing Partnership thinking enough of this community to say they’re going to build affordable housing, not housing that they’re going to throw up and people will be pushed out of the community, but bring people into the community,” she said.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba said that the Leonard Court project is a sort of rebirth of the soul of Farish Street. 

“When people have housing, they have a greater lease on life,” Lumumba said. “Things like crime are affected. When people feel like they have a stake in society, that helps our job market, it helps in so many areas that are important to the vitality and growth of a city.”

READ MORE: ‘It’s a fresh start’: Midtown Partners, Gulf Coast Housing Partnership opens doors to new apartment homes

Mary Elizabeth Evans, vice president of development at Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, said she hopes this project will be a catalyst for residential and commercial investment. 

The New Orleans-based low-income housing developer has partnered with Mississippi Home Corporation, the Mississippi Regional Housing Authority VI, and other community partners and banks to secure funding and tax credits to ensure that the project is funded and that vouchers are available to keep the homes affordable for residents. 

“The reinvestment of this area, which is almost a whole square block in the Farish Street Historic District, is a symbol of hope to the community partners and the community residents who’ve grown up in this area, who’ve lived in this area for decades and have been looking for those partnerships that can stimulate investment in the Farish Street Historic District,” Evans said.

The project will be completed in phases with the first homes ready for residents by the end of 2025 and all homes finished by summer 2026.

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The Mississippi River is the nation’s most endangered river, a national conservation group says, because of federal plans to cut flood relief programs as severe weather threats grow.

American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, has issued an annual list of U.S. rivers it views as most at-risk for the past 40 years. The Mississippi’s place at the top comes as communities along the lower river flooded from torrential rain in early April, and as Trump administration officials consider eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which helps state and local governments respond to disasters. 

The list calls attention to the threats rivers face and prioritizes those for which the public can influence policies that affect their well-being, said Mike Sertle, senior director for American Rivers’ Central Region. For the Mississippi River, he said, the organization’s goal is to press the federal government to maintain a role in disaster relief, which it says is critical to safeguarding people in river communities. 

“We don’t disagree that things need to be reviewed and updated,” Sertle said. “But we also see there’s importance to keeping the agency.” 

The Mississippi River has always flooded. While flooding threatens human structures, it is an important part of the Mississippi River’s life cycle and actually builds land. But experts say floods are growing more frequent, erratic and severe due to climate change. In 2019, the river’s most recent major flood, water stayed at or above flood stage for months and caused $20 billion in damage. 

FEMA assists communities during floods and other types of disasters, provides funds for recovery and oversees preparedness efforts, like its flood maps that predict risks in different areas. And it’s doing so more often today. A January 2025 report to Congress found that the average number of major disaster declarations has increased by 61% from the 1980s and 1990s, partly due to climate change. 

But it has faced broad criticism for not moving quickly enough after disasters and not helping disaster survivors equally. President Donald Trump has floated the idea of dismantling the agency and in February the agency fired more than 200 of its staffers as part of Trump’s push to shrink the size and scope of the federal government. The White House did not comment on the American Rivers’ report’s criticism of these actions. 

FEMA is especially important for coordinating flooding responses along the Mississippi River because it touches so many states on its journey to the Gulf, said Kelly McGinnis, executive director of the environmental advocacy group One Mississippi. 

She and Sertle both described significant room for improvement in how FEMA operates, including speeding up timelines for getting help to communities. The American Rivers report says a more effective and efficient FEMA is critical for flood management as the cycle of drought and flooding on the Mississippi River becomes increasingly extreme.

Cuts to other federally funded flood management agencies will likely impact the Mississippi River beyond the threat to FEMA, the American Rivers report noted.

“FEMA plays a critical role in helping address issues in the aftermath of the flood,” said Alisha Renfro, coastal scientist with the National Wildlife Federation. “On the front end, it’s really about the Army Corps of Engineers and their budget is being threatened as well.”

In March, a stopgap bill to fund the federal government through Sept. 30 slashed $1.4 billion from the Army Corps of Engineers’ construction budget, which funds hurricane and flood mitigation projects. 

With budget losses to both FEMA and the Army Corps, grant programs to address riverine flooding could be impacted substantially. According to FEMA, every federal dollar spent on flood mitigation yields $7 in benefits. 

American Rivers’ announcement comes as states along the lower Mississippi are experiencing and bracing for flooding from heavy rains upriver. Vicksburg, Mississippi, officials are reinforcing flood walls as they wait for water to arrive. In Louisiana, the Army Corps is patrolling New Orleans levees for problems. On Monday, the new Bayou Chene floodgate was closed for the first time due to high water to protect several parishes from backwater flooding as the Atchafalaya River continues to rise.

The Mississippi has made the endangered rivers list in the recent past for other problems. In 2022, the entire river appeared on the list because of pollution and habitat loss, and in 2020, threats from climate change and development landed the upper Mississippi at number one.

The river’s continued appearances on the list show that there isn’t enough progress being made on its biggest challenges, McGinnis said. 

But although the distinction may be negative, she said it’s a good excuse to put river issues in the spotlight. 

“I think it’s very useful to be having these important conversations,” McGinnis said, “so we can hopefully really begin to change how we handle big rivers.” 

This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation. American Rivers also receives Walton funding. 

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Has a sporting event ever produced more drama than the 2025 Masters? Has any network ever displayed it better than CBS? No and no, say the Clevelands, who also opine on the sad case of former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, Mississippi’s college baseball teams, and what the Saints should do at quarterback.

Stream all episodes here.

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Sexually transmitted infection testing is no longer free at county health departments due to recent federal cuts to COVID-19 pandemic relief funding. 

Community-based organizations and health providers that previously received free STI testing at the state’s public health laboratory through federal grant funding will now have to pay for the services or contract with a commercial lab. 

The grant was part of a five-year, $1.13 billion nationwide federal investment to bolster infrastructure to support COVID-19 and STI prevention efforts. It was originally set to end in January 2026.

The cut delivers a double blow to Mississippi, which lost funding for STI services last month when the federal government froze millions of dollars of Title X funding. Title X is used to provide basic reproductive health care, including STI testing and treatment, to Mississippians. 

The change will impact chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea testing, said Kendra Johnson, the director of communicable diseases for the Mississippi State Department of Health. 

Mississippi has some of the highest sexually transmitted infection rates in the country. 

The state has been battling skyrocketing syphilis rates for over a decade and has experienced a more recent surge in congenital syphilis, which occurs when a mother passes the infection to her infant during pregnancy. Congenital syphilis is associated with serious health outcomes, including preterm deliveries and infant deaths. 

Mississippi’s chlamydia and gonorrhea rates are second and fifth in the nation, respectively, but have been declining since 2020, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. 

County health departments will now accept insurance for STI tests, and people without insurance will have to pay out of pocket. The agency is considering offering a discounted rate for uninsured people. 

However, no one seeking STI testing will be turned away from the health department, Johnson said. 

“If they don’t have the means to pay for services, we will be able to support it.” 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pulled back $230 million in funding to the Mississippi State Department of Health in March that was originally allocated by Congress for testing and vaccination against COVID-19. 

The slashed funding to the agency has impacted planned improvements to the public health laboratory, the agency’s ability to provide COVID-19 vaccinations, community health workers and preparedness efforts for emerging pathogens like H5 bird flu. 

In the wake of the funding cuts, the health department was forced to make decisions about its funding priorities. Federal funding accounts for 66% of the agency’s budget.

“With limited resources, you’re kind of forced to determine how to keep things moving with what you have, and what’s necessary and what’s not,” said Johnson. 

Community-based organizations and health providers were suddenly notified last Friday that agreements for free testing services were halted.

“Effective immediately, the MSDH requires your facility to cease submitting specimens to the (Mississippi Public Health Laboratory),” the April 11 letter from the Health Department stated. 

Open Arms Clinic, which has locations in Jackson and Hattiesburg and seeks to make health services accessible to marginalized and underrepresented populations, was using the grant funding to support community STI testing through its mobile clinic, said President and CEO June Gipson. 

The mobile clinic will now have to utilize a new funding source to continue providing free STI testing to patients. 

Unchecked STIs could be devastating in Mississippi, said Gipson, who remembers the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when most resources and attention shifted away from HIV and STI efforts and infection rates climbed unchecked. 

“You have to pay attention to STDs like you pay attention to the road,” Gipson said. “Drive for others.” 

Plan A, a clinic in the Delta that provides free health care services with an emphasis on sexual and reproductive health, had been receiving free STI testing through the health department lab for about a year before it was notified of the funding cuts last week. 

Before the cuts, the clinic had already noticed a heightened need for such tests after some county health departments cut or pared down their clinical services. 

The increase in need paired with a sudden decrease in funding is a “brutal combination,” said Caroline Weinberg, the founder and program director of Plan A. But the clinic will work to find another funding source to ensure that patients don’t experience disruptions in services. 

Plan A’s STI positivity rate is significantly higher than the state’s overall rate, Weinberg said. She hypothesizes this may be due to the clinic’s commitment to free testing, which encourages people to get tested even when they don’t have symptoms. 

Gonorrhea and chlamydia often go untreated because infected people never have symptoms. 

Decreased access to testing will lead to lower STI rates, but will conceal high rates of infection, Weinberg said. 

“It’s going to have a longstanding ripple effect,” she added.

A spokesperson for the health department declined to say what other organizations will be impacted by the change. 

The health department is not experiencing other cuts to STD or HIV health services at this time, said Johnson. 

“But if you ask me that same question next week, we may have a different response.”

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A federal three-judge panel on Tuesday evening ordered state officials to develop another legislative map that ensures Black voters in the DeSoto County area have a fair opportunity to elect candidates to the state Senate. 

The unanimous ruling gave the all-Republican State Board of Election Commissioners seven days to propose a new map for the DeSoto County area, with the state facing a time crunch to hold special elections for numerous redrawn legislative districts in November.

The order is another setback for state officials who have fought bitterly with the plaintiffs and among each other to comply with court orders and federal redistricting law.

The panel, comprised of U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan, U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden and U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Leslie Southwick, previously ruled that when lawmakers redrew their districts in 2022 to account for population shifts, they violated federal civil rights law because the maps diluted Black voting power. 

To remedy the violation, the court allowed the Legislature to propose a new House map redrawing House districts in the Chickasaw County area and a new Senate map redrawing districts in the DeSoto County and Hattiesburg areas. 

Earlier this year, during the 2025 session, the Legislature attempted to comply with the order and tweaked those districts. However, the plaintiffs still objected to parts of the Legislature’s plan. 

The plaintiffs, the state chapter of the NAACP and Black voters from around the state, did not object to the Hattiesburg portion of the Senate plan. But they argued the Chickasaw County portion of the House plan and the DeSoto County portion of the Senate plan did not create a realistic opportunity for Black voters in those areas to elect their preferred candidates. 

The judges accepted the Chickasaw County redistricting portion. Still, they objected to the DeSoto County part because the Legislature’s proposed DeSoto County solution “yokes high-turnout white communities in the Hernando area of DeSoto County to several poorer, predominantly black towns in the Mississippi Delta,” which would make it hard for Black voters to overcome white voting blocs. 

It’s unclear if Tuesday’s order will impact parts of the election schedule. The judges said they were committed to voters participating in November special elections, but it might change other parts of the pre-Election Day schedule.

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