Blackburn Questions Shelby County District Attorney Mulroy After He Admitted He Released Violent Criminals Without Requiring Jail Time

"In our February 27 letter, we asked, 'Of the cases in the December 2025 [Memphis Crime Beat] report, how many involved violent or serious felony charges?' You responded as follows… '166 of the 514 cases in the December 2025 report are designated as "violent" in our system…' Based on the data in the Memphis Crime Beat report, we already know that-out of 514 felony cases that were resolved in Shelby County Criminal Court in December 2025-only 84 of those defendants received prison time. Yet, as you have noted in your response, 166 of these 514 felony cases involved violent crimes. It would logically follow that, if there were only 84 defendants who received prison time in December 2025, but there were 166 violent cases in that same month, there appear to be dozens of violent criminal defendants-based on your own admission-that received no jail time in December 2025."

"As we noted in our first letter, President Trump and his administration are working around the clock to make Memphis the safest city in America. It is your obligation as Shelby County's District Attorney to enforce Tennessee's criminal code and hold violent criminals accountable - not to allow them to be released back onto the streets to reoffend. We have made significant progress in making Memphis the safest city in the United States, and we will not allow you to stall the tremendous progress that the city of Memphis has made… Please provide a complete list of all violent crimes that were encompassed by these 166 cases that were designated as violent in your system. How many of these 166 violent criminal defendants were released into the community with no jail time... How many of the 514 felony cases were violent or serious cases that were ultimately resolved by either probation or diversion?"