Bellard Will Consult Governor
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
St. Landry Parish president Jessie Bellard said this week that he plans to meet soon with Gov. Jeff Landry to determine how to proceed with plans for a proposed $81 million Acadiana Juvenile Justice facility that is facing an undetermined future.
Bellard told St. Landry Now.com that a nine-parish, June 27 ballot that had proposed a 1-cent sales tax to build a nine-parish juvenile detention center will not be placed before voters.
“Right now I am waiting on the governor in order to see how to handle the matter. The governor wants to pursue the creation of the facility, but there will be no election for that this year. That plan has been canceled,” Bellard told St. Landry Now.com.
Bellard said only four of the original nine parishes included in the region created by a 2023 state legislative act, remained committed to holding an election for constructing the 96-bed juvenile center that would be located presumably somewhere in St. Landry.
At the beginning of this week, only Jefferson Davis, Allen and St. Mary parishes remained somewhat amenable along with St. Landry, in asking voters to support a tax for the juvenile detention center.
Iberia Parish opted out of the June election this week, while St. Martin, Acadia, Evangeline and Vermilion indicated previously that they no longer want to be included in an election.
According to a March 10 story published in The Acadiana Advocate, the sales taxes collected in each parish included in the Region would have generated about $90 million for one year, which Bellard has estimated would be enough to build the facility.
After the first year of sales tax collections had been completed, Bellard, who is the executive director of the Juvenile Justice Region, said that the tax requirement in each parish within the region would be reduced to ¼ cent.
The Advocate story included an interview with Jeff Davis Parish board member Ricky Edwards, who told the publication that it would probably cost about $12 million annually to maintain the center, which Bellard has said would resemble more of a training center that focuses on vocational education, job training and counseling rather than a jail for the young offenders.
Bellard said at this point, the Acadiana juvenile justice district will probably have to redesign its approach to presenting a sales tax-supported facility, whose concept was introduced during a Jan. 7 press conference in Opelousas.
There could be another option, Bellard said, that would enable the ARJJD parishes to obtain a ⅔ vote of its parish government memberships raise enough revenue needed to fund a facility without holding an election.
Bellard said St. Landry is one of many parishes in the region that needs to reduce the annual costs for addressing a persistent rise in juvenile crime.
In 2025 St. Landry Parish spent more than $500,000 to send juveniles to facilities outside the parish.
Bellard doesn’t expect that cost to abate soon.
“Right now when a juvenile is sent to a facility, it’s like sending that juvenile to jail. We don’t want to create jails for our juveniles. We want to rehabilitate them,” Bellard added.
