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'He pays nothing across the street': St. Landry Parish president to sue sheriff over jail expenses
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OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) -- St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard said he is suing Sheriff Bobby Guidroz this week after months of conversations about jail cost concerns amid jail overcrowding.
Bellard is seeking damages because of how much the parish pays for state inmates.
"I don't think any judge in their right mind is going to tell us that the sheriff can house state inmates and ship out parish inmates and then collect all the money and back up his cash accounts," Bellard said. "All the time, we are paying out the same amount of money to house them somewhere else."
St. Landry Parish Government pays $17 per parish inmate each day. The Parish also pays $26 per inmate that is sent to other jails due to overcrowding.
"I think he should be paying $17.60 a day to the parish," Bellard said. "And honestly, I think we should get the whole $26.39 because he pays nothing across the street. He just pays his deputies, and that's mandated."
Bellard said the sheriff is profiting from the jail, but the parish government has to pay all of the jail's expenses.
"The state inmates are here because they are some money makers," Bellard said. "Whenever you don't have an expense and you collect $26.39 a day, that's a lot of profit."
The sheriff receives $26 per state inmate that they take in, paying the parish $3.50 to cover the cost of inmates' food.
Guidroz said he will agree to pay the Parish President more than the current food costs, but only if Bellard provides documentation of increased food costs.
"I'm going to help because my budget can sustain that," Guidroz said.
"But before I give them $10, $13, or $14 more per day per state inmate, I have to have documentation from the Parish President showing where this money - and how much - is going to each inmate. I just can't write him a check every month and see him feed the inmate. It doesn't work that way," he continued.
Guidroz thinks Bellard "wants more money than they deserve."
"If you tell me, it costs $17 a day for three meals for inmates in the jail, state inmates, when a cup of coffee and a biscuit is what they get in the morning, and they get one hot meal a day, sandwiches at noon - that's not $17 a day," Guidroz said.
Guidroz said his attorney has been asking Bellard for months to give them documentation about how much it costs the Parish Government to feed state inmates.
"I want to pay," Guidroz said. "I'm embarrassed to be able to be on TV with you letting the people see a fight that we shouldn't be fighting in the news."
However, Bellard said there was no cooperation from the sheriff.
"It wasn't until the threat of a lawsuit that now he's willing to work with us," Bellard said.
As of Monday, the lawsuit was being drafted. Bellard expects it to be served by the end of the week.