Commission approves $94.9 million in project recommendations, adds $3 million for Concordia jail rehab and $5 million for statewide data system

The Criminal Justice Priority Funding Commission on Tuesday approved recommended awards for four regional detention projects and added funding for a Concordia Parish detention rehab and a statewide criminal justice data integration project.

Matt Baker, assistant director of facility planning, told commissioners the working panel recommended four projects: the New Jetson Center for Youth in East Baton Rouge Parish ($19,000,000 recommended), the Central Louisiana Juvenile Detention Center in Rapides Parish ($37,978,880), the River Parishes Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Thibodaux ($36,615,100), and Tangipahoa Parish work-release dormitory and infrastructure upgrades in Amite City ($1,312,700), which together totaled $94,906,680.

The commission also discussed and approved $5,000,000 for the Integrated Criminal Justice Information System, the statewide initiative to connect law enforcement and court data so an officer or prosecutor can see an individual’s full criminal-history information across agencies. "We believe we are at a critical point in the ICGIS project that the additional funding will provide a way to turbo boost the efforts to get that project finished," said Mr. Walters, who described the system to the commission.

During public comment, Sheriff Hedrick of Concordia Parish described a separate $3,000,000 proposal to rehabilitate an existing Concordia facility to house 17-year-olds statewide. "We had a lengthy conversation with juvenile justice about the need to house 17 year olds only," Sheriff Hedrick said, adding that the facility would have capacity for about 80 17-year-olds and that multiple sheriffs across the state had expressed support. He said the daily rate for out-of-parish placements was planned to be about $140 per day.

Representative Bakula moved to reduce the Jetson Center award from $19,000,000 to $16,000,000 and add $3,000,000 for the Concordia Parish proposal; the motion was seconded by Mr. Walters and carried without objection. The commission then voted to adopt the list of awards as amended. A separate motion by Mr. Walters to reopen the application portal so additional regional or local projects could be submitted also passed without objection; the commission recorded that any further awards would be subject to available funding.

Commissioners and staff discussed administrative details for project implementation. Roger Houser, director of facility planning, said projects would be administered through cooperative endeavor agreements between the Division of Facility Planning and Control and the local entity, with locals hiring architects, engineers and contractors and the division providing concurrence and funding. He said contingencies and standard budgeting practices would apply and that unused balances would be reported back to the commission for decisions about reallocation.

The commission emphasized that the current awards likely consume the dollars in the fund and urged regions that did not submit fully developed plans to continue developing operational and site plans for future funding cycles. The commission adjourned after approving the amended awards and reopening the application portal.