Wait-and-see approach is taken on finances

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury provided a bleak financial outlook during their May 3 meeting. During a committee meeting, jurors were at a loss as to alleviate the costly issue of housing inmates in other parishes. President Ryan LeDay Williams said they are $113,843 over budget. The jury has been talking about the issue since November of last year.
Secretary Treasurer Donald Bergeron said they have 167 prisoners, with 62 in the jail. Out of those 62 inmates, approximately 14 are not parish prisoners; 13 are for the Department of Corrections, one is a parolee, and one is being held for Avoyelles Correctional Center because that inmate was not safe in the Avoyelles facility. “We’ve tried to work with the IDB (Indigent Defender Board), district attorneys, judges, the sheriff, and we have gotten some numbers down,” said Bergeron. “To me, we shouldn’t be housing prisoners from another parish or state prisoners when we don’t have room for our own. It just doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Juror Bryan Vidrine found a statute that says when a jail becomes overcrowded, the sheriff has to call a state of emergency after seven days and start furloughing non-violent inmates. Vidrine further said, “We’re bound by the Louisiana Constitution that we can’t spend more than we have, and we can be held criminal if we do that. I will not ever approve the payment of bills if we don’t have money. If it’s beyond our budget, it’s going to have to go with figuring out which inmates need to be on the street and which ones need to be given a ticket and fine.”
Attorney Chris Ludeau said when it comes to the statute Vidrine read, the sheriff can furlough municipal violations. “As it relates to the remaining incarcerated, there are some people who don’t need to be in the public at this time. Cutting some of these people off the inmate roster and putting them back in the community could be a danger to the community.”
The jury also pointed out the sheriff’s tax that recently passed is for the operation of the sheriff’s office and is not for the police jury to use. “That doesn’t help us in our financial situation at all,” said Vidrine. Bergeron said the sheriff gets his first check in August and he has indicated he will help the jury with expenses when the money starts rolling in. Vidrine said, “He gave his word and a handshake.” Williams added, “I can attest to that, but we’re in a situation right now.We don’t have time to wait.”
Juror Sidney Fontenot said they were in the same predicament a few years ago and asked what steps were taken back then. Bergeron said there was a different sheriff at the time who backed off on arrests. “There’s no real fix. We just have a jail that’s too small for us,” said Bergeron.
Ludeau said the judges have “done a great job” in providing reduced or even no bonds, which alleviates the incarceration rate and the amount of inmates on the roster. When it comes to plea deals Ludeau said, “We’re only half the equation. The other half has to agree, and if they don’t, which they’re entitled not to, then it goes to trial.”
Fontenot asked if fines could be placed on those found guilty so that they would have to pay the cost of their incarceration. Ludeau said there are fines and fees certain individuals do plead to, such as court costs, cost of prosecution and IDB, even drug court costs, etc. As for tacking on the cost of incarceration, Ludeau said he can look into it, but that idea faces problems. For example, someone who has been waiting 18 months for trial due to COVID, due to no fault of his own, and takes a plea or is found guilty, he could run up a $20,000 tab. “Sure he might agree to it, but can you collect it? There’s just a lot of inherent hurdles with asking an individual, who may be from a poor socioeconomic class, with being able to pay you back.”
Vidrine said, “We’ve never had this problem to this extent. There has to be a solution. I don’t know if we need to put everybody that’s being put in jail, put in jail to start with.” He said some people have been arrested for offensive language, petty theft, and possession of a small amount of minor drugs. “To me, those are things you can write a ticket for and tell them to go to court.” Williams said the sheriff has started doing that. “I know drugs are illegal,” continued Vidrine, “but I don’t think every drug warrants to be put in jail.”
Fontenot said, “If we have to, go to the public for help to cover these expenses to build a jail, or we have to get everything back in order and not put so many people in jail.” He suggested they could revisit the budget and pull from other funds to cover the cost of the prisoners, but that could only prolong the problem.
Bergeron said, because of the nature of their government, “Other than cutting employees, there’s not much area where we can do any cutting that would come close to these types of numbers. We are obligated to finance other agencies, but this is the only one that’s really out of control.”
Vidrine said he looked at St. Mary Parish and their dealings with Cabot and noticed their parish collection was two-and-a-half mill more on their General Fund. “I think we may need to look at some of our millages and see if they are where they need to be.” He suggested adjusting millages for the library and the health unit. “If revenue is going to continue to be part of the problem, then we need to look at more revenue. I’m not saying this because I want it, but if we have to put it on the ballot for a tax, we’re going to have to do something. We can’t go in the hole. We can’t turn every prisoner back on the street. I know a lot of people thought the sheriff’s tax was going to fix this problem, but the problem still exists.”
After much deliberation, the jury decided on a wait-and-see approach. It was not all bad news, however, as Bergeron reported the rebate they received from the worker’s comp company was $37,555. The 2% sales tax collected for March was $741,815, which was an increase of $409,028. The significant increase was due to a pipeline compression station that was built in St. Landry. The jury agreed to split the extra $400,000 among the jurors to make necessary progress in their respective districts, relative to road milage.
In other business, Williams said he, Bergeron, and Vidrine met with the governor and took part in lobbying to change or omit some of the language in two proposed House Bills associated with broadband internet. “Our main goal is to afford super fast broadband to each business and home, and to allow local governments some authority to collaborate or choosing a provider with reliable services and keeps infrastructure up to date, just to name a few,” said Williams.
The jury also discussed the warden’s request to build a sally port for loading and unloading inmates because an inmate recently escaped when trying to transport him. The inmate was apprehended shortly thereafter, but the warden said the port was needed. He said the inmates can be used for labor, but building materials are estimated to cost $8,241. Vidrine said they do not have the money in the budget to build the port due to the amount of money spent on housing prisoners outside the parish. The jury decided to take no action on the issue.
The jury took a recess during their regular meeting to take up the issue of refinancing bonds, which needed to be decided by the Evangeline Parish Road and Drainage Sales Tax Board. After consulting with attorney and former senator Eric LaFleur, John Mayeux with System Securities, and Ken Antee of Crews & Associates, Inc., the board agreed to explore the option to refinance if it will result in a savings. They will wait for a recommendation of the bond council.