The Rural Blog

A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky. Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.

The Rural Blog

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Sprawling visa scandal continues to embarrass small towns in Louisiana. Three law officers are among the defendants.

Opinion: Indictments aren't enough to account for law enforcement's 'epic' failures at Uvalde school shooting

Researchers find urban communities have about 150% greater access to legal services than rural residents

Rural sheriff and prosecutor offices in Texas are awarded $125 million to bolster staffing and equipment needs

Cheap prison labor is used to supply businesses with all sorts of products; but prisoners can be vulnerable to abuse

Why are so many Americans behind bars? It's complicated.

Use of force in Pa. jails common with mentally compromised inmates; 2/3 of people in U.S. jails are just awaiting trial

Who probes suspicious deaths? It may not be who you think

Many Mississippi courts have no records of search warrants, concealing an important key to monitoring police work

Quick hits: World bird population falls; gentrification can be rural; Black people more likely to be wrongfully convicted ...

N.H. newspaper makes its crime coverage 'more deliberate' after a reporter saw the obituary of a former story subject

'Exodus' of prison employees puts more stress and strain on those who stay on the job; group calls inmate strike in Ala.

Nine justice-reform programs for rural areas will get extra support and provide inspiration to other programs

Killer of 5 at Capital Gazette sentenced to life without parole

Study: Court fines and fees, which some states use to fund their judicial systems, disproportionately hurt the rural poor

Overcrowding, lack of resources spur rural-jail death spike

Study: many legal-aid programs don't work in rural areas because they're designed for cities

Quick hits: Billionaires buy up farmland; USDA wants feedback on rural renewable-energy pilot program...

Illinois the first state to eliminate cash bail; issue disproportionately affects poor, helps overcrowd rural jails

A first of its kind pilot program aims to better coordinate investigations of missing or murdered indigenous people