State law requires parish governments to cover many of the expenses of the criminal justice agencies in their jurisdiction. But the law doesn’t define what adequate funding should look like.
When parishes are flush with cash, this generally isn’t a problem. District attorneys, sheriffs and judges make their budget requests, and parish presidents, councils and police juries are often happy to oblige. After all, everyone wants to keep their streets safe and put the bad guys away.
But as St. Tammany Parish has discovered, when the money’s tight, things can get testy. Officials there have tried and failed five times in recent years to get public approval for criminal justice funding, and the budgeting debate has moved from the political arena to the courtroom.
That’s not usually how it works, but it does happen. And with the rising anti-tax sentiment among voters, it might happen more often, which is why locals may want to keep an eye on the outcomes in St. Tammany.
The late District Attorney Warren Montgomery fired the first volley in 2022, suing parish government for allegedly not funding his office up to legal standards. Parish government filed suit against the DA, hoping a judge would say the funding is adequate.
Not to be outdone, the 22nd Judicial District Court sued the parish in 2023. Without getting too deep on the legal back-and-forth, the main question is straightforward: How much does the parish have to pay to meet its state mandate?
“Let’s get a determination of these statutes,” Parish President Mike Cooper said last week, explaining the rationale to seek declaratory judgments against the criminal justice agencies. “We need to find out what our mandates are.”
Cooper says the parish has been successful in the two cases that have been heard, obtaining rulings that the funding for the 22nd JDC and City Court of Slidell is adequate. Those rulings may be appealed.
Still to be decided are cases against the DA’s office and the sheriff’s office over correctional facility operations and maintenance. Cooper hopes to have both resolved before the end of the year.
St. Tammany Parish District Attorney Collin Sims did not respond to a request for comment made to his office in time for publication. But at a Parish Council meeting earlier this month, he reportedly made a fiery speech urging Cooper to settle the lawsuit, lamenting the expense and arguing that it’s the elected officials’ job to work out a budget, not the courts’.
“Why do we live here? I hope it’s not to engage in millions of dollars in litigation over something that we’re all hired to agree on,” he said.
But Cooper says he wants to establish a baseline, which could provide some guidance to officials outside the parish as well, though he acknowledges every parish is different.
“If I’m the judge, I’m punting that back to the council faster than you can blink an eye,” says Jason DeCuir, a tax attorney with Advantous State and Local Tax Experts, who adds that he is not familiar with the St. Tammany cases. “If not, the courts are going to start deciding parish budgets, which would be crazy.”
And indeed, if you read similar cases, judges typically chastise parties for not working it out before reaching the bench, says Dannie Garrett, an attorney with extensive experience representing local governments.
“It is certainly an issue all across the state,” he says. “DAs want more, parishes are trying to spend money on other stuff, and the citizenry doesn’t always understand what the obligations are.”
The disputes don’t get that far very often, but it’s certainly not unheard of, Garrett says. He says the conflict is often driven less by finances than by a breakdown of trust between the personalities involved.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that a court case will set a precedent for others to follow, and it would be difficult for lawmakers to get specific in the statutes about what the obligations are. That’s because the circumstances are going to be unique depending on the parish and the fiscal situation at the time, Garrett says.
What might help is a different funding system entirely. Perhaps the state should eliminate the current piecemeal system and pay for 100% of the judicial system’s costs, Garrett suggests.
“Criminal matters are State of Louisiana versus Mr. Accused,” he says. “It’s not Jefferson Parish. It’s not East Baton Rouge Parish. … It is a state criminal justice system.”
Back in St. Tammany Parish, Cooper and other parish leaders are taking a new tack. Instead of a separate tax, they want to reallocate an existing tax.
Cooper says taxes that were not renewed dedicated more than $20 million to the agencies. The new proposal calls for taking up to 17% of an existing 2% sales tax, which raises $89 million annually for infrastructure, and spending that $15 million or so on mandated justice funding.
The new revenue, along with the parish general fund, should be enough, Cooper says. But the parish has decided not to put it on the November ballot, as originally planned, because while Cooper says he has garnered significant support, he’s not sure it will be enough.
“Any opposition to this plan could make it dead on arrival,” he says.
But he hopes that a few extra months of education will ensure success on the March ballot.
“We all want the same thing,” he says. “We want to support our criminal justice system.”
