By Jason Brown
The Advocate
The Lafayette Parish Correctional Center might as well put out a sign that reads, “Sorry, no vacancies.”
That’s essentially what police officers in Lafayette have been hearing for several weeks.
The inmate count has been hovering at or near that level for some time and shows no signs of decreasing soon.
To ensure that officers are not being taken off the road, supervisory staff at the Police Department are having to keep offenders in a holding room until jail space becomes available.
Chief Jim Craft says officers are letting some misdemeanor offenders go with summonses to appear in court.
However, they still have to book people for felonies, operating while intoxicated and domestic violence offenses.
So, what is a parish to do when it outgrows its jail but still feels less than inclined to fork over tens of millions of dollars to build a new one?
LPCC Director Rob Reardon and others suggest building one in phases - more manageable sections of 100 to 200 bed pods for $3 million to $5 million at a time.
That’s a little easier to swallow than the $60 million it would cost to build a new 1,200- to 1,500-inmate jail.
Officials in St. Landry Parish are apparently trying the piecemeal approach, too.
The St. Landry Parish Council has tentatively approved a plan that will expand the parish’s long-overcrowded jail by converting space in the commons area to sleeping quarters. The jail’s count stood at 257 last week, 25 more than capacity.
This move would create room for up to 125 more inmates.
Sheriff Bobby Guidroz has said the jail overcrowding in St. Landry will reach crisis levels in about three years. He estimated the cost of a new 600-bed jail at between $10 million and $15 million.
To create additional space, Guidroz also hopes to create a work release center using Melville Elementary, which is set to be closed.
The plan, subject to approval, would allow the Sheriff’s Office to house 50 to 100 nonviolent offenders outside the jail.
The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office has had its work release center in place since 2004. Other progressive programs aimed at
reducing recidivism and the inmate count also have been put into place.
Studies have shown the programs are working, but the number of bookings and the inmate count continues to climb.
The jail took steps to reduce the count in late 2007 by declaring it would no longer accept certain types of misdemeanor offenders.
The effort helped, but did not solve the problem.
Solving the problem is going to take a concerted effort by the criminal justice system and rethinking of accepted traditions.
For example, is it really in the public’s best interest to house an indigent, non-violent misdemeanor offender for upward of 45 days at a cost of about $44 per day because he or she has not been charged and/or cannot afford to post bond? Questions like this are now being considered while officials ponder ways to alleviate the issue.
Craft said his department has taken steps to speed up the delivery of paperwork to the District Attorney’s Office by installing a computer and printer for officers at the jail.
If the prosecutors have paperwork sooner, then it can shorten the amount of time it takes to either file or dismiss charges against an offender.
Meanwhile, District Attorney Mike Harson said his office has begun looking at ways to expedite misdemeanor cases, which can account for a large portion of the inmate population.
This could mean offering an offender the opportunity to plead guilty if he or she has been in jail for more than 24 hours.
This could reduce the count at the jail while also lessening the misdemeanor docket at the city and parish courthouse.
It could also help the jail turn the vacancy light back on.
Copyright 2009 Capital City Press