Attorneys for the Southern Poverty Law Center and ACLU filed a lawsuit today challenging bail practices in Randolph County that they allege keep poor defendants behind bars for weeks or months while wealthier ones go free.

The lawsuit accuses county officials of operating a two-tiered system that uses wealth, and not risk to the community, to determine which defendants should be released from jail before trial. Such policies violate the Constitution, which prohibits jailing people solely based on their inability to make monetary payments. According to the lawsuit, people in jail who can't afford to post bail remain behind bars for weeks while awaiting hearings to reduce the fees.

Randolph County officials named in the lawsuit include Sheriff David Cofield, Circuit Clerk Christopher May, Magistrate Jill Puckett and District Court Judge Clay Tinney. Defendants could not be reached or had no comment on the lawsuit on Thursday afternoon.

The plaintiff, 29-year-old Kandace Kay Edwards of Roanoke, has been jailed since May 17 on felony charges she forged a $75 check. She has two children, is seven months pregnant and unable to pay $7,500 for her release, according to the lawsuit. She lost her job in December due to pregnancy and has been homeless for several months.

"Randolph County reveals the cruelty of money bail. The government robs poor people of their liberty for no other reason than their inability to pay," said Brandon Buskey, senior staff attorney with the ACLU in a statement. "They sit in jail for days or weeks waiting for a release hearing, while their jobs disappear and their families suffer. Meanwhile, those who can pay go home, with the time and freedom to prepare for trial."

Judges in Randolph County hear criminal cases twice a year, so defendants who cannot post bail or get reductions in bail amounts must wait in jail for six months until trial. Such long waits encourage defendants to plead guilty, even when they are innocent, according to the complaint.

Other counties around the country have implemented practices to release poor defendants who can't make bail. Last year, Jefferson County officials changed pretrial procedures to grant release to poor inmates based on non-financial conditions.

Edwards has a hearing in June. She is currently sleeping on the floor of a four-person cell crowded with six inmates and is worried about the impact of her incarceration on her high-risk pregnancy, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Edwards' inability to pay is the only thing keeping her behind bars. Attorneys are seeking the release of Edwards and other defendants jailed under similar circumstances who don't pose a danger to the community.

Such long waits behind bars can damage a person's ability to maintain employment and care for family members, according to the lawsuit.

"Even a couple of days in pretrial detention can cause a person to lose housing, be removed from a shelter list, be terminated from a job, be exposed to unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the jail, and may result in serious trauma to dependent children," the lawsuit read.

The bail system was designed to provide an incentive for defendants to appear in court. People facing felony or misdemeanor charges must provide property or money to secure a release from jail. The amount is based on a schedule and varies based on the severity of the crime. Third parties such as bail bondsmen can also pay bail and become responsible for the defendants' appearance in court, but defendants must usually pay a fee for that service.

One in five Randolph County residents lives below the poverty line, and nearly a third of the adults in the county don't have employment.

"Jails are not meant to warehouse poor people who have not been convicted of a crime," said SPLC Deputy Legal Director Sam Brooke in a statement. "Keeping people in jail cells for weeks or months simply because they can't afford to pay for their freedom coerces people to plead guilty even if they are innocent, wastes taxpayer money on unnecessary detention, and is a form of wealth-based discrimination prohibited by the Constitution."