St. Tammany officials warn cuts to parish funding would strain district attorney, courts and public safety

District Attorney Sims told the St. Tammany Parish Council that the parish's planned cutbacks in funding for criminal justice would force his office to draw down reserves, leave positions vacant and erode prosecutorial capacity.

"I can't do that forever," Sims said, describing a strategy of holding 13 vacant positions to slow his office's cash burn as parish receipts fall. He said parish funding for the DA's criminal division was about $6.28 million last year and that a 30% reduction in parish funding would reduce that to roughly $4.9 million.

Why it matters: Council members and court officials said the reductions affect a pipeline of public-safety functions that the parish funds: the district attorney's office, the criminal court custodial fund, the 20th Judicial District and the jail. Officials warned the combination of fewer staff, fewer warrants allocated by the state and declining court fine revenue could lengthen case processing, reduce capacity to pursue complex prosecutions (including child-abuse and opioid-related cases) and increase pressure on pretrial and jail operations.

What officials said

- Sims said his office has been conserving cash for years, using opioid-settlement money and federal forfeiture proceeds to cover mission-specific work and…