East Baton Rouge Sheriff—s Office says primary policing for Central would cost about $2.5 million a year; committee presses for formula and contract terms

East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff—s Office officials told the City of Central committee in February 2025 that continuing primary law-enforcement services for the city would cost roughly $2,500,000 in the first year.

The estimate, delivered by David Dellit, chief financial officer for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff—s Office, excluded long-term liabilities such as pension unfunded liabilities, other post-employment benefits and certain legal-liability costs, Dellit said. He described the figure as an effort to show the cost "in today—s dollars" and to be "as revenue neutral as possible."

The presentation laid out the sheriff—s office—s method: a formula that weighs square mileage, population, calls for service and the sheriff—s actual costs across the parish. "We estimate the initial, year cost of the City of Central for primary policing services ... at roughly $2,500,000," Dellit said. He added, "we have not included anything like pension liabilities" or other legacy costs in that number.

Why it matters: Central faces a choice between contracting with the sheriff—s office for full primary policing or funding its own fully staffed police department. The sheriff—s office and members of the committee repeatedly referenced the nearby city of Zachary as a comparator; Dellit said Zachary—s fully staffed department cost roughly $7 million a year, a figure the presenter used to illustrate the scale difference between contracting and standing up an independent department.

Committee members asked for detail on how the $2.5 million was calculated and whether the sheriff—s office would add legacy or hidden costs later. "No. We wouldn't anticipate adding that," Dellit said when asked whether pension and other legacy costs would be added to future invoices. "The formula that we use is what we would continue to use going forward. We don't anticipate changing how that would be structured."

Officials clarified what the $2.5 million would cover. According to the sheriff—s office, the estimate includes personnel, benefits, training and equipment that deputies need to perform day-to-day work: vehicles, post-certification training and other operational items. Dellit said the estimate is intended to be comprehensive for operations but expressly does not attempt to include future promises to pay (for example, pension unfunded liabilities) or large legal liabilities.

Officials also described how service is already organized across parish substations. Captain (Bridal/Bridle area) and Major-level staff said Central is currently served by two substations and that those geographic assignments would not fundamentally change if a contract were adopted. Major Kluge (uniform patrol) said allocations of deputies are reviewed annually and can change if call counts or response needs change. "We don't plan on changing anything. Central substation area will not change," a uniform-patrol official said.

Committee members raised other implementation questions: how long contracts might run and whether a new sheriff after an election could end a contract early. Dellit said contracts vary by term and often include exit provisions; some are tied to a sheriff's term, while others are 15- or 20-year agreements. "Almost every contract we have, we have some type of stipulation that we can get out of it," he said, adding that clauses such as one-year notice periods are common.

Direction and next steps: Committee members asked sheriff—s staff to share the calculation formula and underlying data (square mileage, population, calls for service) to allow an apples-to-apples comparison with a Central-run police department plan previously circulated to the committee. Dellit agreed to work with the sheriff—s public affairs and administrative deputies to provide that detail.

The sheriff—s office representatives also said specialty units——10 homicide, narcotics, school task forces and other teams——would remain available to Central regardless of the chosen policing model. "Whether you decide to go with a fully funded police department, or if you decide to contract the Sheriff's Office, the Sheriff is still going to provide services" for parishwide specialty needs, Dellit said.

What the committee recorded as unresolved: exact timing for any contract start date, the precise content of escalation clauses for annual cost adjustments (cost-of-living or CPI-based escalators), and the question of whether the city would retain any in-house police administrative roles under a contract remain to be decided by the mayor and council during future budget and contract negotiations.

Ending: Committee members asked staff to provide the formula and supporting data so the committee can compare the sheriff—s estimate with prior Central Police Department cost estimates and present those comparisons to the mayor and City Council during upcoming budget deliberations.