Construction costs for a new jail devoted to 17 year-olds have climbed in the last few months. The facility is needed because of a law passed in 2024 that requires 17 year-olds to be treated like adults in the criminal justice system. (Photo from Canva)
Louisiana officials increased the construction budget this week for a new 80-bed regional jail dedicated exclusively to 17-year-olds.
The facility is being built after state lawmakers approved a law in 2024 that requires 17-year-olds to be treated as adults, rather than minors, in the criminal justice system. The change Gov. Jeff Landry pushed has created a space crunch in some local jails.
The state Criminal Justice Priority Commission originally awarded Concordia Parish Sheriff David Hedrick $3 million earlier this year to convert an old community center into a jail for 17-year-olds. The commission upped the project budget to $3.5 million Thursday after Hedrick’s office said project bids came in higher than expected.
The facility will accommodate 17-year-olds from East Baton Rouge, Lafayette, LaSalle, Livingston, Madison, Tensas, West Carroll, West Feliciana, Winn and possibly other parishes, according to the project application submitted last year.
State budget officials had not initially recommended the Concordia facility receive funding, but legislators and the governor’s staff inserted it into the list of approved projects earlier this year to address concerns from sheriffs about needing space to house more 17-year-olds.
The decision to treat 17 year-olds as adults conflicts with federal law and has created logistical problems for Louisiana sheriffs at their local jails. The federal government prohibits 17-year-olds from being housed with adults and requires sheriffs to provide the teens with educational resources while they are jailed.
Sheriffs have complained they don’t have the space or funding for these accommodations. This Concordia facility devoted exclusively to 17-year-olds is supposed to help alleviate that pressure.
Work on the Concordia jail is expected to start Nov. 17 and take about 10 months to complete.
The state is also building a brand new juvenile detention center in Lafourche Parish, expanding a juvenile detention center in Rapides Parish and constructing a new youth prison on the site of the Jetson Center for Youth in East Baton Rouge Parish.
