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Senate hears FY26 budget overview for Louisiana Department of Justice; Troop NOLA and Medicaid-fraud unit highlighted
Summary
Senate Fiscal Committee heard a presentation on the Department of Justice FY26 recommended budget, including funding shifts for the Criminal Law and Medicaid Fraud program, the ongoing Troop NOLA initiative and statutory-dedication changes tied to the Complex Litigation Unit.
Mark Barnes of the Senate Fiscal Services Division gave the committee a line-by-line overview of the Department of Justice FY26 recommended budget, saying statutory dedications are a major portion of the department budget and noting recent program growth.
The department’s recommended FY26 budget relies on several means of finance: statutory dedications (35% of the department’s recommended budget), interagency transfers (23%), state general fund (20%), fees and self-generated revenues (14%) and federal funds (8%), Barnes said. He also described growth in several DOJ programs since FY2018.
Attorney General office representatives told the committee Troop NOLA — a state-supported law-enforcement initiative in New Orleans — remains active and that prosecutors and state police are processing hundreds of cases stemming from the program. The presenter said Troop NOLA has generated 387 open cases since it began last year and noted the program had both one-time and continuing appropriations in recent years.
Senators focused questions on the Department’s Medicaid fraud work and on a statutory-dedication fund used to support parts of criminal and Medicaid-fraud activity. Senator Sandra Cloud pressed whether the state is maximizing federal drawdown for fraud-detection work; the DOJ presenter said the office self-funded $2.5 million last year to draw federal matching dollars and said the fraud unit is smaller than recommended by a federal formula but is nationally productive in recoveries.
Senators also asked about a recent spike in professional-services spending shown in fiscal documents, equipment and vehicle replacement requests, and a carryforward of prior-year Troop NOLA appropriations. Committee members requested additional detail on interagency (OTS) charges, the breakout of professional-services increases, and the source and planned use of statutory-dedicated funds that supported Troop NOLA expenses in prior years.
The department described a mix of recurring statutory-dedicated funding and one-time carryforwards tied to Troop NOLA and related criminal-justice expenses. On staffing, the department reported 539 authorized positions and noted vacancies and 3 proposed new positions in the Medicaid fraud unit in FY26 to expand investigations and civil remedies.
