OPELOUSAS — It may take a judge to decide who will pick up the cost regarding state-incarcerated people housed at the Parish Jail. Who will foot the bill is now coming down to a possible legal battle between the Parish Government and the Sheriff's Office.
"I am not going to let the Sheriff tell us what he is going to pay and not pay, and that's why I want to take him to court and let the judge decide," said the Parish President during last week's Parish council meeting.
Last Wednesday, in that Parish Council meeting, Parish President Jessie Bellard asked the council to rule for litigation to determine who should pay the bill for the cost of housing those state incarcerated.
The state mandates that the Parish Government provide housing, medical care, and food for parish inmates.
"We are not questioning that cost at all; we know it's a lot, and it's a mandate that we have to do; the problem that we have is the state inmates," said Bellard.
Bellard says that the Sheriff receives $26.39 from the state per person to care for incarcerated DOC individuals, but caring for these people costs $17.00 per person, which comes from parish pockets.
Bellard says there are 58 people under the state currently in parish jail.
If you do the math, the Sheriff receives around $1500 per day from the state while the Parish pays $986.00 to care for those incarcerated. And the price on both ends adds up each day.
"We can't keep paying that bill and expect nobody to reimburse us," said Bellard.
That cost continues to add up in addition to the cost of those in parish custody and what it is costing the Parish to send some of those people out of the Parish.
So, what is the solution? Bellard says he wants the Sheriff to help with the state cost.
"We call this a friendly lawsuit because we just want the judge to decide who pays what. You got food cost, you got transportation, you got medical, you got supplies, you got nurses, and the overall operations of the jail , so it's a lot to take on by the Parish, you know," said Bellard.
Bellard also said that the Sheriff only pays $3.50 to the Parish to feed the incarcerated.
We did reach out to the Sheriff's Office attorney, Mike Leger, who said in a statement to KATC:
"Both parties are in the process of resolving the state issue and are collecting financial documents to calculate what each party owes."
