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Attorney general warns prosecutors are 'drowning' as Troop NOLA, ICAC and Medicaid-fraud caseloads grow
Summary
The Attorney General told the Senate Budget Committee that Troop NOLA and the Internet Crimes Against Children unit have sharply increased caseloads and that the criminal division requested roughly 42 additional positions; DOJ officials said Medicaid-fraud recovery could be larger with state match funding. Committee members asked for more detail on staffing and recoveries.
The Senate Budget Committee heard a Department of Justice overview and a direct appeal for additional staffing on Feb. 20.
The Attorney General (record reference to "Larry") described heavy operational demands following recent program expansions. "Since the inception of Troop NOLA in 2024, we've opened 1,050 cases... we have 729 active cases handled by 10 prosecutors," he said, adding, "Our prosecutors are drowning." The criminal division requested 42 TOs to reduce caseload pressure and improve prosecution throughput; the office also requested three additional civil TOs for other programs.
The AG said the Internet Crimes Against Children operation received about 27,000 tips in 2025 and is on pace for more than 30,000 in 2026; the DOJ serves as a statewide clearinghouse and has expanded partnerships from 8 to more than 70 law-enforcement partners. DOJ officials also described the Medicaid-fraud unit as proportionally undersized relative to the state's Medicaid spend; the AG said the office believes it could pursue substantially more federal recoveries if state match arrangements are resolved.
Senators pressed for specifics, including whether the staffing request covered ICAC and whether the DOJ could supply updated dollar figures for Medicaid fraud recoveries. DOJ said the current FY27 request for criminal-division TOs is driven by Troop NOLA workload, and that ICAC staffing was not part of this year's numeric ask though earlier increases had been made. Mark Bournes (Senate Fiscal Services) and DOJ budget manager Laura Sanders provided line-item funding context during questioning.
No formal committee vote was recorded. Senators indicated interest in follow-up information, including recovery totals for Medicaid-fraud work and further breakdowns of the DOJappeal letter staffing request.
