Uncovering Racial Disparities in Washtenaw County's Legal System

By Lauren Slagter, Trevor Bechtel, and Amanda Nothaft

The criminal legal system should provide accountability for people who threaten public safety, respect the rights of crime victims and defendants, and treat people fairly regardless of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. However, in Washtenaw County, there is evidence that people of color have different encounters with the legal system than white people. FEBRUARY 2024 The analysis did not find evidence of racial disparities in the following areas: • In acceptance into a pre-plea diversion program, nor • In granting Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA) status, which allows young defendants to avoid a criminal record. As part of the Prosecutor Transparency Project , the University of Michigan analyzed cases referred to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office from 2017 to 2022. That analysis found the largest racial disparity occurred in requests to file charges received by the prosecutor’s office from local law enforcement. Black people appear in 49.9% of requests for charges between 2017 and 2022 but make up only 12.2% of county residents. By comparison, white people appear in 47.8% of requests for charges and make up 70% of the county’s population. This suggests the demographic composition of the cases that come into the prosecutor’s office are a significant driver of previously observed racial disparities in Washtenaw County’s criminal legal system. 

Ann Arbor: Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, 2024. 8p.