Sheriff warns plumbing failures at Orleans Justice Center; council seeks contractor estimate before funding decision

New Orleans City Council President JP Morell called a special meeting on June 3, 2025, to receive an update on conditions at the Orleans Justice Center. Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hudson told council members that crews discovered multiple plumbing failures inside the building and are working on emergency repairs while identifying longer-term needs.

Why it matters: the plumbing failures have already caused flooding inside the facility, impaired support systems and damaged control panels, and could threaten continued operation if not addressed. Council members and the city’s legislative auditor discussed possible funding sources, asked for formal contractor estimates and scheduled follow-up work to reconcile fund balances before approving new appropriations.

Sheriff Susan Hudson said crews have discovered multiple leaks and were repairing them as they were found. "As of today, we've identified we have 16 active leaks," Hudson told the council. Hudson said the most urgent work — including isolating a failing hot-water recycle line and repairing ICON flush valves — was already under way and would be completed on an emergency basis that night.

Ernie Anderson, owner of Powerhouse Commercial Construction Inc., described the cause he and his team found in a concrete pipe chase: a fitting that "was not compressed," which he said allowed a slow leak to develop and then fail under pressure. "There was a fitting in there that was not compressed," Anderson said, describing how crews only found the source after using a camera and chipping concrete to expose the chase.

Anderson and another contractor on site, Johnny Volley of Volley Plumbing, told the council that the uncompressed fitting likely went unnoticed because concrete and clamps hid it until a pressure event forced the o-ring to fail. Anderson recommended installing cameras in pipe chases to detect leaks earlier and said he would not rehire the individual plumber who performed the original work if that person was responsible for the fittings that failed.

CFO Bianca Brown and Mike Wagasbach, legislative auditor for the state, briefed the council on the sheriff's office finances and possible city support. Wagasbach said the sheriff's office began 2025 with roughly $12 million on paper but, after one-time litigation settlements and other adjustments, that netted to a beginning fund balance of about $8.4 million. He said that, as of April 30, the sheriff's general-fund unrestricted cash was about $23.5 million and that, in broad terms, the sheriff could likely cover a portion of near-term emergency spending without immediate city action.

"If I were to advise the sheriff as her personal CFO, I would say you're probably good to go with about $5,000,000 of emergency spend on different stuff before the city would need to really fund," Wagasbach told the council. He added that FEMA reimbursements, a recently approved millage expected to raise about $13 million annually, and other sources could be used to pay for larger renovation or bonding options for significant renovations.

City and council members pressed the sheriff's office for written contractor estimates. Several council members said they had not received the plumbing estimate the contractors said they submitted three to four weeks earlier. Council members repeatedly requested that the sheriff provide the formal estimate and scope so the council and administration could consider reallocations, reimbursements or short-term transfers.

The sheriff's office offered preliminary cost estimates in the meeting: contractors and the sheriff's office described about $300,000 to $400,000 in immediate emergency repairs and an estimated $900,000 for more preventative maintenance work across the facility and an additional $500,000–$5,000,000 range for security, locking-system and integration upgrades discussed separately. Wagasbach said the city could also consider bonding against the recently approved millage to cover larger capital projects.

Council members and city staff emphasized process and documentation. Multiple speakers told the sheriff's representatives that the council needed an itemized estimate and supporting invoices to process any emergency funding; the administration and the legislative auditor offered to reconcile cash and FEMA accounts over roughly a 60-day window. The council also said it would pursue better financial visibility by further implementing the BRASS (financial/contract tracking) system and by reviewing the sheriff’s multiple checking accounts for consolidation.

Several council members asked for more detail about the flooding. Officials described a major leak that produced "2 to 3 feet" of water in a pipe chase on an upper floor before crews isolated the line; the water reportedly reached levels that threatened pod infrastructure and electrical panels though deputies and staff evacuated or shut off impacted spaces before water entered occupied cells. The sheriff said crews shut down the domestic hot-water line overnight to make repairs.

No appropriation or emergency funding vote was taken at the meeting. The council asked the sheriff to provide the contractor estimate and additional documentation, and city and sheriff staff agreed to meet in follow-up sessions, including reconciliation of fund balances and a meeting to begin BRASS implementation. The final formal action of the special meeting was a motion to adjourn, which passed unanimously on a 6-0 voice vote.

What’s next: the sheriff's office agreed to provide a written estimate and supporting documentation; the legislative auditor and city finance staff offered to review the sheriff's accounts and FEMA reimbursements and to report back to the council with reconciled numbers and options for short-term cash support and longer-term capital financing.