District Attorney Hal Kittrell releases case load statistics

District Attorney Hal Kittrell released case statistics for 2017 which shows that 41 percent of the felony cases tried by his office in Pearl River County are related to drugs.

Kittrell pointed out that most of the other categories detailed in the statistics are actually tied to drug activity as well.

“Probably 80 to 90 percent of all crimes can be tracked back to some association to drugs. Those listed as property or financial for example, are most likely related to someone trying to steal to get money to buy drugs,“ Kittrell explained.

“In reality, the issue is where do we catch them in the cycle? Do we catch them in the property or financial crimes in getting the money to get the drugs, or do we catch them once they have the drugs?” Kittrell noted.

Kittrell gave credit to those in local law enforcement for their diligent efforts in fighting the presence of drugs in Pearl River County.