Commission approves nearly $95 million in criminal-justice facility recommendations, shifts $3 million to Concordia Parish rehab

The Criminal Justice Priority Funding Commission on Thursday approved a slate of capital awards for juvenile and adult facility projects across Louisiana, shifted $3 million to a Concordia Parish rehabilitation project for 17‑year‑olds and approved $5 million for the statewide Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (ICGIS).

Commission members voted without objection to accept the working panel’s recommendations — including awards originally totaling $94,906,680 for four facility projects — and to implement a $3,000,000 addition for Concordia Parish after Representative Bakula successfully moved to reduce the planned $19,000,000 award for the New Jetson Center for Youth to $16,000,000 and reallocate $3,000,000 to Concordia.

The working panel had recommended the following awards before the change: “New Jetson Center for Youth, East Baton Rouge Parish — $19,000,000; Central Louisiana Juvenile Detention Center (Rapides Parish) — $37,978,880; River Parishes Regional Juvenile Detention Center (Thibodaux) — $36,615,100; Tangipahoa Parish work‑release/dormitory and infrastructure upgrades (Amite) — $1,312,700,” Matt Baker, assistant director of facility planning, told the commission. Baker read the figures while describing the working panel’s scoring and ranking of applications.

Separately, the commission included a $5,000,000 award for the Integrated Criminal Justice Information System, described during the meeting as a statewide effort to connect criminal‑justice data across sheriffs, police, courts, prosecutors, the Louisiana State Police, the Department of Corrections and the Office of Juvenile Justice. “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,” Mr. Walters, a commission member, said. Walters described the funds as supporting software upgrades, technical support and integration work so local clerk‑of‑court systems, district attorney offices and law enforcement can exchange case and offender data more reliably.

Sheriff Hedrick of Concordia Parish and Chief Deputy Fred Middleton appeared during public comment to describe the parish’s application. Sheriff Hedrick said the sheriff’s office requested $3,000,000 to rehab an existing facility to house 17‑year‑old juveniles and said the renovated facility would have capacity for 80 17‑year‑olds. Hedrick said the parish currently houses about 800 inmates in its facility. He also said at least 10 sheriffs had offered written support and that the Concordia facility would be available to any sheriff in the state. “We had a lengthy conversation with juvenile justice about the need to house 17‑year‑olds only,” Sheriff Hedrick said.

Representative Bakula moved the funding reallocation at the meeting; the motion was seconded by Mr. Walters and adopted without objection. The commission then voted to adopt the full list of awards, including the Bakula amendment, and later voted to reopen the application portal so additional regional or local projects meeting the commission’s approved scope could submit applications for future consideration. The motion to reopen the portal was made by Mr. Walters, seconded by Representative Villio and carried without objection.

Commission staff described how awards will be administered. Roger Houser, director of facility planning, said projects funded through the program will follow cooperative endeavor agreements similar to other non‑state projects: the local entity hires architects, engineers and contractors, and the division concurs and provides funds. Houser said the Office of Juvenile Justice is expected to review plans for consistency and that local entities should budget contingencies for bids and construction.

Commission members pressed staff on operational and design details. Representative Muscarello asked whether locals could design their facilities; Houser said they would manage design and contracting locally with the division’s concurrence. Muscarello also raised a question about dormitory “pod” design and staffing efficiencies, noting that state guidance allows different staffing models for larger pods; Houser said the Office of Juvenile Justice would be involved in plan review to promote consistency.

No formal vote counts for individual commissioners were recorded in the transcript; each motion was announced as carrying “without objection.” The commission also discussed that this effort is an initial step and that additional legislative funding may be sought in future sessions to meet statewide needs.

The meeting closed after the commission completed its agenda and accepted the motions to adopt the award list and to reopen applications.