Parish to use opioid-settlement funds to pay for drug-court public defender

Saint Charles Parish Council unanimously approved a cooperative endeavor agreement on Jan. 12 to provide $80,000 per year from the Louisiana State Local Government opioid litigation settlement to the 29th Judicial District Public Defender's Office to fund a public defender assigned to the parish drug court.

District Public Defender Ben Swan told the council the attorney’s role goes beyond courtroom representation: the defender attends three-hour weekly treatment-team meetings and helps participants secure benefits such as Medicaid and housing supports. Swan said the drug-court program has served about 498 people since it began and currently maintains roughly 15 to 20 participant slots.

Parish President Matthew Jewell said the parish received a multi-year opioid settlement award and emphasized the settlement money must be used for opioid-related services. "I signed on to that lawsuit in 2020... you have to use that money specifically to address the opioid..." Jewell said, endorsing the use for drug-court funding.

Council members praised the program and expressed support; the ordinance opened for public hearing and no members of the public spoke. The measure passed unanimously.

Next steps: the agreement authorizes annual payments of $80,000 from the settlement pool to the public defender’s office to staff the drug-court attorney; the transcript did not specify hiring timelines or performance reporting requirements, which remain to be clarified.