Midwest Innocence Project

The Midwest Innocence Project (MIP) is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the investigation, litigation and exoneration of wrongfully convicted men and women in our six-state region. Recent independent studies conservatively estimate that between 2% and 5% of all inmates in America were falsely convicted, with some estimates reaching up to 7%. This means that somewhere between 2,000 and 7,000 moms, dads, sons and daughters in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arkansas are locked behind bars this very moment for crimes they did not commit.

After a conviction, it takes roughly seven to ten years for an innocent person to be exonerated, and the process is very expensive. The MIP staff of six, along with our Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and many volunteers, works diligently to give freedom back to those whom the legal system has failed. Thanks to our partnership with the University of Missouri in Kansas City and Columbia, we also have a presence in the classroom to teach the next generation of lawyers and investigators how to identify and prevent these injustices.

The Midwest Innocence Project was founded a decade ago through the UMKC School of Law and is part of the National Innocence Network. We are based in Kansas City, Missouri.