SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — A new racial equity report from the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office presents two sharply different pictures of the local criminal justice system.

At the point misdemeanor drug cases entered the system in May, Black defendants accounted for 90% of cases—an overwhelming share compared with 7% for defendants recorded as White and 4% categorized as other or unknown race.

But after cases reached the prosecutorial stage, the outcomes examined by the District Attorney’s Office showed much smaller differences between Black defendants and defendants recorded as White. The report found nearly identical rates of pleas to lesser charges, similar average numbers of remaining counts after charge reductions, and broadly comparable representation in diversion.

The findings are among the first public results released through the office’s adoption of selected Prosecutorial Performance Indicators, or PPIs—measurements designed to help prosecutors examine fairness, consistency, efficiency and outcomes across the criminal legal system.

A closer look at plea outcomes

Once defendants were in the system, the gap narrowed considerably in the plea-bargaining measures the office reviewed. Among guilty pleas, 41% of Black defendants pleaded to at least one lesser charge. The comparable figure for defendants recorded as White was 43%.

The report also examined the average number of counts at indictment and the number of counts dropped before final disposition. Black defendants averaged 2.38 counts at indictment and 1.90 counts dropped, leaving approximately 0.48 counts. Defendants recorded as White averaged 2.00 counts at indictment and 1.54 counts dropped, leaving approximately 0.46 counts.

In practical terms, the average number of counts remaining after those reductions was almost identical in the two groups measured. The office characterized the plea and charge-reduction results as broadly similar.

Diversion data shows a similar pattern

The office also measured diversion, an alternative to traditional prosecution available to eligible defendants. Here, Black defendants made up 77.75% of the eligible first-time defendant population and 82.91% of defendants who received diversion.

Defendants recorded as White made up 15.52% of eligible defendants and 15.38% of diversion recipients. The data suggests that the two groups were represented among diversion recipients at rates generally consistent with their shares of the eligible population.

The diversion result requires caution. The report notes that relatively few people received diversion overall. Small numbers can make percentages appear more stable—or more meaningful—than they really are. For that reason, the May results should be read as an early benchmark, not a final judgment about long-term equity.

What the report can—and cannot—answer

The DA’s Office is clear about the limits of its analysis. The report does not control for differences that may shape plea negotiations and outcomes, including alleged offense severity, the evidence available in a case, a defendant’s criminal history, or other case-specific circumstances.

It also flags a major data-quality concern: a court data-entry change in early 2026 caused some Hispanic defendants to be recorded as White. That means the report says Hispanic results cannot be interpreted reliably, and the defendants counted in the White category may include some people who should have been classified as Hispanic or Latino.

Why this matters

The report’s central tension is hard to ignore. The data shows a profound racial imbalance in misdemeanor drug cases at the moment they enter the Shelby County court system. Yet the prosecutorial measures available in this first review show comparatively small differences between Black defendants and defendants recorded as White after cases arrive at the DA’s Office.

That distinction matters for public accountability. If the largest disparity emerges before prosecutors take control of a case, then a complete explanation will require data and cooperation beyond the DA’s Office—including information from law enforcement agencies about arrests, bookings, referrals and decision-making before a criminal case appears in court.

DA Steve Mulroy said the purpose of releasing the data is to make the system more measurable and more transparent.

“We all know there are racial disparities in our criminal justice system. To understand its scope and contour, let alone improve it, we must measure it with data and share that data with the public. This is the beginning of a longer effort to do just that.” — Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy

The office plans to continue the analysis in future reporting periods and expand it to offenses beyond misdemeanor drug cases. That longitudinal work will be critical. A single month can identify a signal; multiple months of better-quality data may show whether that signal is persistent, changing, or linked to specific decision points in the justice system.