Commission approves nearly $95 million for juvenile and regional detention projects, adds $5 million for statewide data system and $3 million for Concordia

The Criminal Justice Priority Funding Commission voted to adopt funding recommendations for four detention projects totaling $94,906,680, approved a $5,000,000 allocation for the Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (ICGIS), and redirected $3,000,000 to Concordia Parish to fund a local juvenile housing proposal.

Commission members adopted the working panel's recommended awards after a presentation on the scoring process and public comment; Representative Bakala moved to reduce the New Jetson Center for Youth award from $19,000,000 to $16,000,000 and add $3,000,000 for the Concordia Parish Sheriff's Office, a motion carried without objection. The commission then adopted the full funded list, including that change, and voted to reopen the application portal to accept additional regional or local projects.

The working panel and Facility Planning staff detailed how they evaluated applications after the commission's guidance and scoring criteria were distributed. Matt Baker, Assistant Director of Facility Planning and the division's applications coordinator, said the group distributed ratings and recommended the top four projects: the New Jetson Center for Youth (East Baton Rouge Parish) originally recommended at $19,000,000 (reduced by the commission to $16,000,000), Central Louisiana Juvenile Detention Center (Rapides Parish) at $37,978,880, River Parishes Regional Juvenile Detention Center (Thibodaux) at $36,615,100, and Tangipahoa Parish work-release dormitory construction and infrastructure upgrades (Amite City) at $1,312,700. Baker said those four projects together totaled $94,906,680.

Commission staff also recommended funding for ICGIS, described at the meeting as a statewide initiative to integrate criminal-justice data across law enforcement, courts, prosecutors and corrections. "ICGIS has been working extremely hard, over the last few years, to get these projects going to connect these different systems," Mr. Walters said, and he confirmed the commission would allocate $5,000,000 to the project.

During public comment, Concordia Parish Sheriff Hedrick described a separate, $3,000,000 proposal to rehabilitate an existing facility to house 17-year-olds statewide. Hedrick said the rehabilitated building would have capacity for about 80 17-year-olds, that Concordia currently houses roughly 800 inmates, and that the parish had letters of support from multiple sheriffs across the state. "We had a $3,000,000 proposal to rehab an existing building that we have in hopes to house juveniles or 17 year olds across the state," Sheriff Hedrick said.

Representative Muscarello asked about the total project cost and daily rate for hosting youth from other parishes; Sheriff Hedrick replied the total project cost was $3,000,000 and estimated a daily rate of about $140. Commissioners noted operational and programmatic questions would be handled by the Office of Juvenile Justice as plans and designs are reviewed.

Representative Bakala made the motion to reallocate $3,000,000 from the Jetson allocation to fund the Concordia project; the motion was seconded by Mr. Walters and carried "without objection." The commission then adopted the full list of awards, including that change, with a second by Representative Villio and no objections. Mr. Walters later moved, and Representative Villio seconded, to reopen the application portal to accept additional regional or local projects that fit the commission's scope; that motion also carried without objection and was described as subject to future funding availability.

Commission staff described that funded non-state projects will be administered through cooperative endeavor agreements with Facility Planning, with local entities hiring architects and contractors and the division providing concurrence and funds. Commissioners discussed design considerations including residential pod size and staffing efficiencies; staff said the Office of Juvenile Justice will be part of plan reviews to promote consistency across projects.

The commission chair closed the meeting after the adopted motions and direction to continue accepting applications.

Ending: The commission took formal action to allocate the specified awards and set a process for additional applications; staff said the awards and any remaining balances will be reported as projects complete and that the commission expects this to be an ongoing funding process.