Lafourche to use bid process to award new jail contracts

The chairman of a committee tasked with facilitating construction of a new jail in Lafourche Parish named the architect he’s ready to hire to begin designing a new facility. But the parish president said no such arrangement would be finalized until the parish solicits bids from all interested designers.

Lindel Toups, a councilman who represents the Gheens area, said MWL Architects President Michael LeBlanc has furnished a written statement in which he pledges to design a 600-bed facility that can be built at a cost not to exceed $20 million.

This makes MWL the best option because parish leaders should be able to pool that amount without raising taxes, Toups said.

“I think it’s time to move on it,” Toups said. “It’s not going to get better, and it’s not going to get any cheaper.”

Toups did not satisfy an informal request to see the written statement, saying if it were published, other architects would have an unfair advantage in knowing the competition’s cost estimates. “It wouldn’t be right for him,” he said.

LeBlanc has offered to work for free until the parish gets its funding in order, though in theory the parish would pay about $2,000 to $3,000 upfront to retain MWL Architects, Toups said.

Public agencies do not have to comply with the state’s public bid process for professional services that do not exceed $500,000 in cost.

Parish President Charlotte Randolph said Lafourche would consult with the sheriff’s office in drafting formal requests for proposals at every step in the process, including design.

LeBlanc first appeared before the New Jail Committee in March. At that time, he said a 600-bed, 105,000-square-foot jail would cost $22 million to build, or about $210 per square foot. That cost includes site utilities, buildings, furniture, fixtures, bond fees and interest, he said.

A facility that size would more than double the capacity of the current detention center.

Under LeBlanc’s plan, the jail would be constructed with a metal frame and concrete walls, floors and ceilings, he told the committee in March. The proposed jail would be prime for future expansion, if necessary, Toups said, and it would consist of domes, which gives guards a panoramic view and lessens the guard-to-prisoner ratio.

If hired, LeBlanc would start designing the facility and handle the bid process for contractors once the parish gets the funding in place.

Toups said he believes the parish can generate the money without asking the voters to approve new taxes. This would entail finding surplus funds in the parish’s various districts and rededicating some property taxes, including those collected by the parish’s library system, he said. Any rededication must first be approved by voters.

LeBlanc was one of three consultants to advise the Lafourche Parish New Jail Committee at public meetings. The committee, formed in March of 2011, has held nine meetings.

The current jail, which was built in 1968 and expanded in 1977, has had crowding issues since 1995 and maintenance woes since 1992. The Lafourche Parish Council began planning the construction of a replacement jail March 1, 2005.

The Lafourche Parish Detention Center has a capacity of 244 prisoners and typically averages more than 400, according to the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office. Excess prisoners are held in other parishes’ facilities.

Lafourche spent more than $1 million housing out-of-parish prisoners in 2010, according to the parish finance director.

The Five-Star Committee, tasked with making recommendations on a new jail in 2009, concluded that the parish would need a 900-bed facility by 2030 to keep up with a rising population.

Julie Thibodaux, director of education and outreach with the ACLU Foundation of Louisiana, has urged the jail committee to commission an updated population study with an independent analyst before drafting any proposals.

She said the study didn’t incorporate national declines in jail population and crime and didn’t include alternative incarceration methods, both of which would reduce the number of needed beds.

“It makes no sense financially and from a social justice perspective as to why you’re building a 600-person jail when you house an average of less than 400 prisoners the last four years,” Thibodaux said.

Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre has said the inmate population is “an artificially low number” attributable to the state of the current jail. For instance, drug offenders and non-violent criminals are being released to leave beds open for more dangerous offenders.

The more surplus beds the parish facility has, the more money the parish and sheriff’s office can bring in through housing other parishes’ excess prisoners. But it also pressures law enforcement to make sure the beds are filled, Thibodaux argued.

Toups said he thinks the parish will commission a new population study, but no formal action has been brought on the matter despite a discussion before the committee seven months ago.

The jail committee’s next meeting has not yet been set, but Toups said at least two more consultants are expected to make public pitches.