27,519 La.App. 2 Cir. 6/23/95, City of Shreveport v. Caddo Parish

• Decision Date: 23 June 1995
• Citation: 658 So.2d 786
• Parties: 27,519 La.App. 2 Cir
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 786

658 So.2d 786

27,519 La.App. 2 Cir. 6/23/95

CITY OF SHREVEPORT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CADDO PARISH, et al., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 27519-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana,

Second Circuit.

June 23, 1995.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 17, 1995.

Writ Denied Nov. 17, 1995.

Edwin L. Blewer, Jr., James Sterritt, Dannye W. Malone, James M. Woods, Shreveport, for appellant.

Jerry Jones, Lydia M. Rhodes, Shreveport, for appellee.

T. Allen Usry, John F. Weeks, II, Metarie, amicus curiae.

Before LINDSAY, HIGHTOWER and BROWN, JJ.

LINDSAY, Judge.

This appeal addresses the issue of which public entity is responsible for the cost of housing felony pretrial detainees in the Shreveport city jail. The City of Shreveport sought a declaratory judgment specifying that it was entitled to reimbursement for all costs incurred in housing such detainees in the city jail. The trial court ruled in favor of the City, finding the Caddo Parish Sheriff and Caddo Parish Law Enforcement District primarily liable and the Caddo Parish Commission secondarily liable. The Caddo Parish Sheriff and Caddo Parish Law Enforcement District appeal from the trial court judgment, as does the Caddo Parish Commission. For the reasons assigned below, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and amend in part the judgment of the trial court.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Prior to 1982, Caddo Correctional Institute (CCI) was the penal farm for Caddo Parish where parish prisoners served their sentences. Located near Keithville, Louisiana, the facility was operated solely by the Caddo Parish Commission ¹ without any participation by the Caddo Parish sheriff. The Commission funded CCI through dedicated jail tax millages.

When Donald Hathaway was elected sheriff of Caddo Parish in 1979, the sheriff was only responsible for running the parish jail located in the Caddo Parish Courthouse ("the courthouse jail"), which was basically a holding facility. After 48 hours, prisoners had to be removed to CCI. This facility was funded from the Sheriff's general fund, and the Sheriff received a statutory per diem per prisoner of $3.50 from the Commission. See LSA-R.S. 33:1432(1).

Due to CCI's history of escapes and internal violence among the inmates, the Commission requested that the Sheriff assume the additional responsibility of operating that facility. In 1982, Sheriff Hathaway agreed to manage CCI, which he renamed Caddo Detention Center (CDC).

Pursuant to their agreement, the Sheriff and the Commission entered into a written contract which established the funding for CDC; fundamentally, the Commission agreed to transfer to the Sheriff the balance of the funds generated by the millages previously used to operate the penal farm while retaining some funds for maintenance of the facility. Thereafter, the Sheriff had two budgets: his general fund for the Sheriff's office (also referred to as the Law Enforcement District) which operated on a fiscal year from July 1 to June 30, and the CDC budget which, like the Commission budget, operated on a calendar year basis. Due to the contract between the Sheriff and the Commission which provided for funding CDC through the millages, the Commission did not pay the statutory per diem of $3.50 to the Sheriff for the parish prisoners at CDC.

The contract provided that it would remain in effect until December 31, 1985, the expiration date of the 4 mill jail tax assessed for operation and maintenance of the facility. The Sheriff and the Commission initially hoped to replace that jail tax, which had been established in the Commission's name, with a similar jail tax in the Sheriff's name, which would allow the funds to come directly to the Sheriff's office. However, that effort was defeated at the polls. Eventually, the already existing jail tax was renewed by the voters of Caddo Parish. As a result, the funds for CDC continued to be channeled through the Commission.

Another relevant provision of the 1982 contract stated that the Sheriff would receive reimbursement from the state Department of Corrections (DOC) for the care of state prisoners. In addition to prisoners awaiting trial on felony charges ("felony pretrial detainees") and sentenced parish prisoners, CDC also housed state prisoners convicted on felony charges who had been given hard labor sentences and were awaiting transfer to a DOC prison. Following conviction, the DOC becomes financially responsible for housing these DOC prisoners and pays a per diem of $21.00 per prisoner to the parish facility where they are incarcerated pending transfer. See LSA-R.S. 15:824(B)(1)(a).

During the mid to late 1980's, crime across the nation dramatically increased, causing widespread jail overcrowding. On a state level, the DOC was unable to accommodate the large number of convicted felons committed to its custody, causing these DOC prisoners to back up in the parish jails. Locally, in order to make more room in jail for the more serious and violent criminals, the Caddo district judges began giving the parish prisoners sentences which involved the performance of community service instead of jail time. A consequence of this was to reduce the number of convicted parish prisoners available to serve as trustees at CDC. ² Therefore, an increasing number of the DOC prisoners backed up in the Caddo Parish jail system were used as trustees.

The jail overcrowding resulted in serious local problems, not only in the parish jails, but also in the Shreveport city jail. This facility was essentially a misdemeanor jail where persons convicted in city court served their sentences; additionally, the city housed some federal prisoners. When the Shreveport Police Department makes felony arrests, these persons are initially booked into the city jail for processing; within 72 hours they are taken before a Caddo district judge for "jail clearance" at the Caddo Parish Courthouse, as required by LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 230.1. Under ordinary circumstances, following jail clearance, these felony pretrial detainees are to be placed in the parish jail system and housed at CDC or in the courthouse jail. However, due to overcrowding at these facilities, the Sheriff's office began returning some of the felony pretrial detainees to the city jail, where they remained until bed space could be found in a parish jail facility.

An important factor in determining available bed space in the jails in Caddo/Shreveport is the restrictions placed on them by federal consent decrees which govern jail conditions and the number of inmates. Pretrial prisoners must be separated from those who have been sentenced. The maximum number of prisoners that may be held in the parish jails is 514 at CDC (with a security staff of 98). Although the consent decrees allow 66 inmates to be held in the courthouse jail, reconfiguration of the cell blocks to provide for holding cells for prisoners waiting to attend court proceedings has reduced that number to 50. The Shreveport city jail is allowed to house up to 125 male inmates, with flexibility to go up to 135 for a 24-hour period; if the number of prisoners has not been reduced at the end of the 24-hour period, the city jail must close its doors to new prisoners. Also, pursuant to an agreement between the City and the Sheriff which was designed to allow the city jail to use its space more effectively, all female prisoners are housed in parish facilities.

In 1988, the City began receiving the $3.50 statutory per diem for the felony pretrial detainees it was housing. This was accomplished by billing the Sheriff's office. In turn, the Sheriff's office added the number of felony pretrial detainees held in the city jail to the number it held in the courthouse jail and submitted the combined figure to the Commission for payment of the statutory per diem. The Commission paid the Sheriff, which paid the city's bill for housing felony pretrial detainees.

Beginning in the late 1980's, the City attempted to negotiate a contract with the Commission whereby it would receive more than the statutory per diem. However, these efforts were rebuffed and no agreement was signed. In February 1992, the City demanded $25.00 per day per felony pretrial detainee. At this point, Sheriff Hathaway removed himself as the conduit for the payments to the City and passed on the request to the Commission, which refused to pay the increased per diem.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In March 1992, the City filed a petition for declaratory judgment against the Caddo Parish Commission. It sought a declaratory judgment defining the duties of the City and the Commission under LSA-R.S. 15:304 and LSA-R.S. 33:4715. It also sought to recover the costs of housing the felony pretrial detainees at the rate of $25.00 per prisoner per day.

The Commission made a third-party demand against Caddo Parish Sheriff Don Hathaway and the Caddo Parish Law Enforcement District, seeking indemnity from them. The City then amended its petition to add the Sheriff and the Law Enforcement District as defendants.

The Sheriff and Law Enforcement District answered and asserted immunity under LSA-R.S. 9:2798.1. They also filed a cross-claim against the Commission, contending that the Commission was financially responsible for the establishment, maintenance and operation the jail, as well as all expenses associated with housing felony pretrial detainees.

Trial began in May 1994. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of the City, making 35 specific findings of fact and/or law. For purposes of this appeal, the most important of these findings may be summarized as follows:

1. The Sheriff and the Commission have a joint obligation to reimburse the City for the cost of housing, feeding, medicating and transporting felony pretrial detainees. The Sheriff is primarily liable, while the Commission is secondarily and solidarily liable, at a rate of $24.00 per prisoner per day from the date suit was instituted.

2. The Sheriff voluntarily kept a number of DOC prisoners at CDC as "an...