Attorney Damon R. Stevenson for Hinds County

05/18/2026

I enjoy walking into the Courthouse on a Monday morning and seeing potential jurors everywhere. Lots of jurors means your Hinds County judges are ensuring that courtrooms are open for trials. What I have discovered as a a Judge is that just the presence of jurors can greatly incentivize cases to resolve. Sometimes once individuals know that they are about to face a jury of their peers, they will plea in a criminal case or the parties will settle the matter in a civil case. So to the jurors who show up every Monday to help move cases, thank you. And even if you don’t get to actually sit on a jury to decide the outcome of a case, know that in just showing up for jury duty, you have greatly helped move cases in Hinds County. Thank you for your time and your service.

05/07/2026

At bible study last night the speaker discussed how people are angry, fierce, and quick to respond. As judges, we constantly hear cases that quickly escalated because no one was willing to walk away. No one was willing to say being right is not as important as staying alive and staying out of trouble. Does it make sense to protect your pride but lose your life or your freedom when you could easily walk away? Let’s teach our young people sometimes the best thing to do is just walk away and remove yourself from the environment before something happens that everyone regrets.

05/01/2026

Courthouse view on this rainy Friday. Stay safe this weekend friends!

04/24/2026

We are seeing way too many felony fleeing cases. The failure to stop for law enforcement can lead to a felony charge and possible prison time. Why risk your life, and the lives of other innocent people only to rack up more serious charges? Even if you go to jail, you can fight it in Court, but a family can’t fight it if they have to go a cemetery. The neighborhoods where our children play should never become racetracks.

03/12/2026

When justice and forgiveness collide!

02/20/2026

As I finished court for the week, I would like to make a few observations from a judge’s viewpoint:

1) Under the law, most people are entitled to a reasonable bond. When a judge gives you a bond and you dont stay out of trouble, you literally throw away your family’s money. That’s not fair to your family.

2) If you have on GPS monitor, keep it charged or you will be returned to jail.

3) If you don’t come to court, a bench warrant will be issued for you and you will have to stay in jail until your case is resolved.

4) I’m sick of seeing 15,16, and 17 year olds charged with murder and violent offenses. A kid hanging out at 2 or 3 am is asking for trouble. Parents, please make your kid come home at a decent time.

5) Why does a teenager need a gun????

6) Lastly, as a community we have to teach young men to make better choices. Too many of our young men are throwing their lives away by making careless decisions.

Freedom is priceless. One bad decision can put you in a prison cell for life.

12/30/2025

One thing I promise to provide as a Judge is transparency. I was appointed Sept 1. We started with no staff, no office space, and no courtroom. Judge Kidd allowed me to work out of space in his office until I had an office in the courthouse. With the help of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, we got an empty courtroom up and running and started presiding over criminal and civil matters in November. We now have a full staff in place including a Court Administrator, a Court Reporter, and a Law Clerk. (Side note: let’s encourage young people to become court reporters. There is a shortage of court reporters and many predicted it would take months to find a court reporter. You can’t have criminal court at the felony level without a court reporter. Maybe the Career Development Center in Jackson Public School District could offer some classes to high school students.) The Lord blessed us to locate and have a court reporter hired in October. In addition to the administrative function of a Judge, I understand my role in moving cases on my docket. To that end, in the two months since we had a fuctional courtroom, we have resolved 30 criminal cases by trial or plea. This does not include the arraignments, bond reviews, motions hearing, and civil matters we have heard in the last two months. We have also regularly conducted Court at the Raymond Detention Center so that the Sheriff Department does not have to transport inmates to the Courthouse. This saves the cost of transporting multiple inmates from Raymond to Jackson and frees up the baliffs in the Courthouse from having to guard inmates.

Before we leave for the New Year, our staff is making sure everything is in place for January as we have criminal trials scheduled every week during the month. Looking forward to having a great year in 2026. Be safe and have a Happy New Year!

12/17/2025

One of the wonderful systems in the Hinds County Court is the Drug Court lead by Senior Judge Winston Kidd. Drug Court provides a means for individuals struggling with addiction to turn their lives around. Drug court is cheaper than incarceration and allows a person to receive help while being involved in their family and community. Tonite we celebrated those individuals who successfully completed the program. As a judge I have no problem sending people to prison who won’t turn their lives around. But if a person has a desire to overcome their weaknesses and is willing to put in the work and they are not a threat to public safety, I support 2nd chances!

12/06/2025

Too often when high school students find themselves in a courtroom they are there for the wrong reason, that’s why I was excited to allow our courtroom to be used for high school mock trial competitions on Friday. There are some amazing young people in our communities doing great things, lets give them the support they need to be successful.

11/19/2025

Overcrowding at the jail is creating a serious issue. Since becoming a judge, a continuing concern is who to detain for public safety and who can safely be released until their court date. The reality is we can’t detain everyone accused of a crime. Unfortunately, judges don’t have a crystal ball so we are having to make very important decisions regarding bond, sometimes with limited information.

RAYMOND, Miss. (WJTV) – The Hinds County jail system is running well over capacity, and county leaders said the cost of housing inmates out of county is putting a serious strain on taxpayers.…

11/08/2025

Sending people to prison or telling parties that I am rejecting a plea deal because it doesn’t reflect the seriousness of a crime or a person’s criminal history are not things I enjoy but they are a necessary part of a Circuit Judges role if we are going to have a safe county. Fortunately in between overseeing a criminal docket at the jail and the courthouse this week, one of my more enjoyable moments was helping these beautiful couples start their lives together!