New Lafourche jail funding still unresolved

The Five Star Committee spent more than a year studying Lafourche’s correctional facility, built in 1973, and the overcrowding and outdated infrastructure led them to the conclusion … Lafourche needs a new jail.

Committee members determined a new jail should have 900 beds to accommodate for the increase in crime 20- to 30-years into the future.

Freddie Delaune, chairman of the committee’s finance panel, said a jail of that size will cost about $50 million.

The committee based their decision on a study performed by National Institute of Corrections consultant James Rowenhorst.

Parish officials don’t know where the money will come from to build the facility. But, Council Chairman Daniel Lorraine said a new source of income will have to be sought because the parish does not have the extra money for a jail.

“The parish’s budget is real lean this year, there’s no way we can fund a $50 million jail,” he said. “We have to come up with the funds from somewhere else.”

Jail Committee Chairman Rick Bouterie told the council that several alternatives exist, including a new sales tax.

“Any new tax or renewal of a prior tax should undergo scrutiny,” Delaune said. “Taxpayers’ obligations in concerned with the jail are intertwined with the relationship of the sheriff and the parish.”

The committee also recommended the parish turn the new jail over to Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. State law requires that the parish government own the jail and local sheriffs’ offices operate it, unless the two reach a different agreement.

Bouterie cited an arrangement worked in nearby St. Charles Parish, where Sheriff Greg Champagne received $4 million from its parish government to build a $15 million, 600-bed jail in 2001.

“The St. Charles’ intergovernmental agreements should be explored further,” he said.

The Five Star Committee members toured the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center in St. Charles Parish in July 2009.

Committee members said the benefits of the St. Charles design, including its “pod” design that allows guards in a central command area to have unblocked views of inmates without coming into contact with them, would be beneficial to Lafourche.

Webre has said he is willing to talk with Randolph about taking ownership of a new jail and the liability that comes with it.

Randolph said building the new jail is still in the preliminary stage, but a 1-cent sales tax is a possibility.

Other sources could include bond sales or federal-stimulus money.

Councilman Phillip Gouaux told the council it should still consider looking at the 2001 Blue Ribbon Committee report and the Nicholls State University study that gave a breakdown of the parish’s taxing structure.

The committee recommended that the parish government be reorganized and a master strategic plan be created where Lafourche should increase its business community and attract more citizens to the parish, increasing the tax base instead of the tax rate.

The council took no action, but Lorraine said he plans to schedule a special meeting “sometime in the future” to talk about forming another committee to look at financing options.

The new committee’s members would include council members, other parish administrators and Webre, he said.