Evangeline Parish Sheriff Eddie Soileau announced his agency has been granted $314,000 from the Louisiana Supreme Court to upgrade and interface the sheriff department’s computer technology with that of the District Attorney, Clerk of Court and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety.
In addition to networking with the court system, the grant will provide for new computers throughout the Sheriff’s Department as well as new laptops for all patrol and detective units.
The Sheriff’s Department will be operating on a new, stronger and advanced computer server.
The grant includes the acquisition of a state of the art E-force System which will provide a Cad System (mapping and auto tracking), electronic traffic ticketing, a jail management system, a records management system, and an accounting software system for the tax office.
The sheriff thanked Evangeline Parish Assessor Dirk Deville for personally writing and completing the grant application.
When contacted, Deville noted “This was made possible through a cooperative effort. Clerk of Court, Randy Deshotel, first hosted an introductory meeting between myself, Josh Fontenot, and staff from the Louisiana Supreme Court who were charged with issuing these monies. Josh and I then worked with the agencies involved to complete answers to a series of questions included in the application.”
Deville further stated, “In addition, I conducted a study of all Louisiana sheriffs through their annual audits and determined that Evangeline Parish ranked at the very bottom regarding a population to revenue ratio. I then used this information as my primary argument. I am so pleased that we were able to secure this funding.”
Once the grant application was submitted, Mike Fontenot, Administrator for the Evangeline Parish Sheriff Department, worked with the Louisiana Supreme Court to provide additional information and finalize the process.
May 30, 2026
