Is I-49 dead in south Louisiana?
March 29, 2011April 2: Ladybug Ball Children’s Festival (Houma)
March 31, 2011Council Chairman Louis Richard has made it a goal to work on getting Lafourche Parish a new jail, and the council took the first step in doing so by establishing the New Jail Committee at last Tuesday’s meeting.
In addition to Richard, the committee will include councilmen Jerry Jones, Lindel Toups and Rodney Doucet, Finance Director Ryan Friedlander and one representative from the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Richard said he doesn’t expect Sheriff Craig Webre to be LPSO’s representative, but instead someone else from the administration.
The committee’s first meeting is today at 4 p.m. at the Mathews Government Complex, 4876 La. Highway 1, Mathews. “It’s time to get something done,” Richard said.
The resolution that created the committee said its purpose is to “make decisions based on review of current recommendations and suggestions made as how to fund a new jail for Lafourche Parish.”
The current jail, which was built in 1968 and expanded in 1977, has had crowding issues since 1995 and maintenance problems since 1992. The Lafourche Parish Council began planning the construction of a replacement jail March 1, 2005.
Hurricane Katrina derailed the progress, and The National Institute of Corrections completed an assessment of the current facility in February 2008.
At tonight’s meeting, the New Jail Committee will select a chairman, co-chairman and secretary, discuss the scope of the committee and schedule future meetings.
