– The St. Martin Parish Council held a special meeting Friday to pass a resolution indicating the parish government’s desire to withdraw from participation in the Acadiana Regional Juvenile Justice District.
The Louisiana Legislature formed the district with an act in 2023 with nine participating parishes. The parishes each had one representative appointed, often the sheriff of the parish, along with a representative for city judges within the district, and one appointed by vote of parish presidents. Sheriff Becket Breaux was appointed for his position in the organization by Chief Judge Roger P. Hamilton Jr. of the 16th Judicial District and the District Attorney.
Juvenile
However, Parish President Pete Delcambre learned that Opelousas City Judge Shaunn Caillier-Harden had been appointed as the parish presidents’ pick, though Delcambre had not been informed of a vote to appoint the judge prior to the announcement.
The parish council also had concerns over the cost of participating in the district. St. Martin Parish would have an initial 1 cent sales tax raising $10,317,836 to open the district followed by a 1/4cent sales tax annually to support the district, a cost of $2,579459 annually for taxpayers in the parish.
Delcambre said there is currently one juvenile from the parish who is being cared for in a facility outside the parish at a cost of about $9,000 per month, or about $108,000 for a year, and the parish rarely has more than one juvenile who is in a juvenile facility, so the sales tax would be costing much more per year for taxpayers.
Four other parishes have withdrawn from the district recently, including Vermilion Parish a couple of weeks earlier.
