Lawsuit Alleges Discrimination Against Hinds County Residents

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Hinds County, its Board of Supervisors, and three individuals have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the Mississippi Transportation Commission (MTC), its commissioner, and the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District. The plaintiffs claim the defendants have discriminated against the mostly African American residents of Hinds County by denying them the amount of federal highway and bridge funds they are entitled to by law, and instead allocating those resources to the mostly Caucasian residents of neighboring Madison and Rankin Counties. According to the complaint, “[t]he federal highway and bridge funds received by the MTC…were and are to be administered and spent by a MPO [metropolitan planning organization] created by the State of Mississippi and administered according to a population formula whereby 50% or more of such funds are to be spent in an urbanized area with a population of 200,000 or more.” The suit claims that Hinds County makes up more than 50% of the tri-county area of central Mississippi, yet receives less than 50% of government-allocated funds for highway and bridge repairs. It notes that the commissioners of the MTC have always been Caucasian and have discriminated against Hinds County because of its majority African American population. From the complaint:

“Hinds County, Mississippi is 77.9% African American despite its composition of 50.88% of the combined tri-county population, yet according to data provided by the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway administration, Hinds County only receives 44.10% of the federal highway funds allocated to the tri-county area since 1990, and it is estimated that less than 20% of that money makes its way into the African American Community.”

The suit claims that, as a result, the roads and bridges of Hinds County have not received the repairs and attention they need, and that Hinds County residents have suffered a loss of property value.