Approximately 500 prosecutors (or district attorneys) and sheriffs will be elected in 2019. They are responsible for setting a wide range of policies that impact detention conditions, incarceration rates, cooperation with ICE, and more. Yet they receive inadequate attention.

Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia will select many if not all of their prosecutors or sheriffs this year. Just a handful of counties including San Francisco will hold solitary elections elsewhere.