close
close

Ourladyoftheassumptionparish

Part – Newstatenabenn

22nd JDC judges say specialty courts at risk due to parish budget cuts |
patheur

22nd JDC judges say specialty courts at risk due to parish budget cuts |

For years, the North Shore’s 22nd Judicial District has operated several specialty courts that provide services to people navigating their way through the legal system while struggling with drug addiction or other issues.

Now, Chief Judge William “Billy” Burris says the courts may be at risk.

The St. Tammany Parish government’s proposed 2025 budget proposes slashing court funding, and specialty courts may have to close, Burris told members of the North Shore legal community at a JDC Bar Association’s 22nd function earlier this month.

The impact of closing the courts, he added in an Oct. 18 interview, would be immediate.

“Hundreds of people suffering from substance abuse disorders would be released,” he said. “The specialty courts give them treatment and teach them not to be addicted to these substances,” he added.

Without them, “it’s just ‘don’t get in trouble’ or, at least, ‘don’t get caught.’ “

In addition to a specialized court for defendants with substance abuse issues, the 22nd JDC has courts specifically for veterans and parents struggling with addiction. There are eight specialist courts in total, most of which aim to help people struggling with their mental health or drug or alcohol abuse.

St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper’s proposed budget cuts the parish’s share of funding for judges and courts from $3.2 million in 2024 to about $1.5 million next year.

The 2025 budget proposal follows several years of threadbare budgets as St. Tammany Parish government struggles to find ways to overcome the loss of millions of dollars in funding for the criminal justice system following voter rejection of five criminal justice tax proposals since 2016.

‘Lock up more people who need help’

Nick Richard, director of the Southeast Louisiana chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which operates in St. Tammany, emphasized the value of specialty courts.

“We are going to end up locking up more people who need help,” he said. “Many times, people come into contact with the criminal justice system because they don’t have access to services, not because they are bad people.”

“We need to do something to resolve this situation,” he added. “Because we cannot allow the courts to disappear.”

When Cooper presented his proposed budget to the St. Tammany Parish Council on Oct. 3, it drew sharp rebukes from judges and North Shore District Attorney Collin Sims, who called the budget a “piece of garbage.” The proposal roughly halves funding for both the courts and the district attorney’s office.

The Cooper administration says its goal is to allow both agencies to operate at full capacity through May 2025. In March, voters will decide through a ballot measure whether to allow the parish to use sales tax dollars currently earmarked for infrastructure improvements to finance the judicial system. system. If that measure passes, more funding would be available for the district attorney’s office and the courts.

But Sims has argued that he cannot write a budget for his agency based on a contingency.

“I’m not going to do that,” he said. “That would be woefully irresponsible.” If the proposed budget is approved, he said he would have to start making cuts to his office on Jan. 1, if not sooner.

He also noted that under Cooper’s budget proposal, the parish’s Department of Animal Services would receive twice as much funding as the District Attorney’s Office.

Looking for a solution

Cooper, for his part, highlighted the importance of the parish’s criminal justice agencies.

“We are committed to identifying additional sources of funding for these agencies for the 2025 budget, while also offering a long-term solution for recurring funding with a proposal to rededicate and extend the term of an existing sales tax in March,” Cooper said in a statement released Oct. 18.

Some members of the Parish Council have said they are also working to rewrite the budget so that the Prosecutor’s Office and the 22nd Judicial District Court will have enough funds to carry out their functions throughout next year, regardless of whether the Parish Council’s action Tax reform is approved by voters.

Sims and several council members noted that there are funds that the parish has considered restricted but that can legally be used to make up for budget shortfalls. But without a recurring stream of revenue in the form of a tax to fund the justice system, the parish eventually runs the risk of depleting those funds without being able to replenish them.

“We are finding some opportunities,” said Council Member Joe Impastato. “The council has been working very hard.”

While the council has not yet tabled proposed amendments to the budget, Impastato was hopeful of finding the funds needed to keep the specialty courts open.

Alex Lubben

Closing of accounts for the general elections of December 7

Nov. 6 will be the last day to register to vote in person for the Dec. 7 general election, according to St. Tammany Parish Registrar of Voters Dwayne Wall.

Anyone interested in registering to vote in person must have identification with a parish address. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Covington Recorder’s Office, 601 N. Jefferson Ave., on the ground floor of the St. Tammany Parish Court; and in Slidell, at 520 Old Spanish Trail (Towers Building). The Slidell office closes for lunch from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Additionally, all mail-in registration requests must be received or postmarked by November 6.

People who want to register online can do so until November 16 by visiting www.sos.la.gov/electionsandvoting.