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Representative Jordan sks committee to require housing inmates within 30 miles; sheriffs and prosecutors raise capacity and safety concerns
Summary
House Bill 333 would require DOC to house inmates within 30 miles of the offense or home parish to preserve family ties and reduce recidivism. Prosecutors and sheriffs warned the committee that local bed capacity, security and witness protection needs make a strict 30-mile rule impractical; the bill received extended debate and no motion to advance was recorded.
Representative Jordan presented House Bill 333, a proposal to limit the Department of Public Safety and Corrections uthority to place incarcerated persons more than 30 miles from either the parish where the offense occurred or the person nd asked the committee for support on the grounds that proximity to family assists rehabilitation and lowers recidivism risk.
Proponents argued anchoring placement to a home parish would keep reentry supports nearby and allow local social services to engage earlier. "Maintaining family bonds is the single most effective way to reduce recidivism," Representative Jordan said, urging the committee to consider a 30-mile rule.
Opponents — including Zac Daniels, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, and Jonathan Vining, executive counsel for the Department of Public Safety and Corrections — raised logistical and safety concerns. Daniels said local facilities and DOC placement practices sometimes require transfers out of parish to ensure separation of rival inmates, preserve witness or victim safety, and manage special medical or security needs; he illustrated with cases where local infrastructure required out-of-parish placements. DOC counsel said sentence length, type of crime, and medical or mental-health needs are primary placement drivers and that staff routinely consider family proximity, but bed space and appropriate facility type limit options.
Kevin Cobb of the Louisiana Sheriffs Association told the committee local jails hold more than half the state's incarcerated population and warned that available bed space in many locales makes a 30-mile mandate infeasible.
Representative Jordan indicated willingness to refine language and acknowledged fiscal considerations; no motion to advance HB 333 was taken during this hearing and the matter remained under further consideration.
