BATON ROUGE - In an effort to shorten the prison stays of accused individuals, EBR District Attorney Hillar Moore has been working with the public defender's office and local law enforcement agencies to speed up the arraignment process.

Now, arraignments must happen within the first 72 hours of an individual's arrest as opposed to within the first three months.

Leaders in the 19th Judicial Court say this new time frame is a necessary step in moving Baton Rouge's justice system forward.

The plan is to limit the time people spend behind bars while waiting for a decision from prosecutors.

The change is part of a larger goal: to reduce the parish's outsized jail population and decrease inefficiencies in the judicial system.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Hillar Moore is set to host a media conference, addressing the implementation of the new process. 

The conference will be held in the Metro Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall at 2:30 p.m.