Ernest Deroche Sr.
December 16, 2008
Whitney Nicole "Black" Jones
December 18, 2008
Repairs to the Terrebonne Parish Jail in Ashland are ongoing and will not be completed until after the new year, said Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Malcolm Wolfe.
The jail received 14 inches of floodwater from Hurricane Ike and is housing no inmates. All prisoners are being held temporarily at the Annex Jail in the Terrebonne Parish Courthouse Annex.
The annex normally only houses trusties and inmates awaiting trial.
Replacing the floors is the priority, said Warden LeRoy Lirette, but trusties have freshly painted the entire jail in Ashland. Other repairs include lining up the security system, fixing the electrical system and replacing doors, including cell doors. Refrigeration work is also being done.
Lirette said insurance policy payments are footing the cost of the repairs.
The sheriff’s office has not encountered any special difficulties housing inmates at the temporary facility, he said.
Even though the annex is close by, unlike the facility in Ashland, the parish is not saving money transporting inmates to and from the courthouse. Every prisoner that is not bonded out is taken to Angola to be held, Lirette said.
Twenty members of the sheriff’s office’s inmate-work program are transported daily from the annex to help perform repair work at the Ashland jail.
The temporary closure of the jail has not altered the number of hours department employees are working, according to Lirette. With Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois’ help, he said, some employees have been moved around and others are doing back-up holiday patrols.
A trusty at the Terrebonne Parish Jail in Ashland paints walls in the facility’s control room. The jail took on 14 inches of floodwater during Hurricane Ike. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
