ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 89
BY REPRESENTATIVE MARCELLE
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Louisiana
Sheriffs' Association, in conjunction with the technical and research assistance
provided by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of
Texas at Austin, to study and review the Basic Jail Guidelines and current methods
of evaluation and enforcement of such guidelines, to study and evaluate models for
oversight, transparency, and accountability adopted in other states regarding the
housing of inmates in local jail facilities, to provide recommendations for
modifications to the Basic Jail Guidelines and methods of compliance evaluation and
enforcement of the Basic Jail Guidelines including appropriate funding levels
necessary to carry out such recommendations, and to provide a report to the
Legislature of Louisiana no later than September 1, 2022.
WHEREAS, the Legislature of Louisiana entered into a bipartisan justice
reinvestment process, as advanced by the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, that resulted in
legislation designed to safely reduce Louisiana prison population and reinvest savings back
into programs that promote successful transition back to communities; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana system which utilizes both state prisons and local jails to
house persons committed to the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
presents unique and complex challenges regarding housing conditions and the provision of
programming; and
WHEREAS, these complex challenges include but are not limited to limitation on
state funds available for housing per diem rates to ensure local jails are able to provide
reentry, educational, and vocational programming, appropriate staffing levels, employee
retention, and facility spacing comparable to that of state prison facilities; and
Page 1 of 3 HCR NO. 89 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, approximately twelve thousand of the persons committed to the custody
of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to serve judicially ordered sentences are
housed in local jails across the state; and
WHEREAS, despite these challenges, Louisiana has made significant strides in the
reduction of the prison population and the expansion of available programming and
resources in local jails through the creation of regional reentry centers and other local level
partnerships; and
WHEREAS, local jails that house state inmates are required to comply with the
Department of Public Safety and Corrections Basic Jail Guidelines; and
WHEREAS, the nature of housing conditions and availability of reentry
programming can meaningfully impact recidivism and relationships between incarcerated
individuals and their families and communities; and
WHEREAS, since 2008, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections in
partnership with the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association and sheriffs' offices have made
significant efforts to improve the housing conditions in certain jails across the state with the
creation of eleven regional reentry centers in local jails that provide pre-release, reentry,
educational, and rehabilitative programming to state inmates housed in such local jails; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Louisiana
Sheriffs' Association seek to continue to improve housing conditions in local jails through
the continued expansion of programming contingent upon the availability of funding, to
revise and modify the Basic Jail Guidelines, and ensure the uniform enforcement thereof;
and
WHEREAS, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of
Texas at Austin is one of the preeminent public affairs schools in the United States and has
comprehensively studied housing conditions in prisons and jails nationwide.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Louisiana Sheriffs'
Association, in conjunction with the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the
University of Texas at Austin, to study and review the Department of Public Safety and
Corrections Basic Jail Guidelines, including methods of evaluation and enforcement,
mandatory and non-mandatory standards of confinement as required by the American
Page 2 of 3 HCR NO. 89 ENROLLED
Correctional Association as applicable to local jails, and the programming and resource
needs of local jails, to recommend modifications to the Basic Jail Guidelines and existing
methods of enforcement and compliance and the expansion of programming resources in
local jails, and to identify the appropriate funding levels necessary to carry out such
recommendations in order to further improve the housing conditions.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety and
Corrections, the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, in conjunction with the Lyndon B. Johnson
School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin may work with and receive
information from various stakeholders in the criminal justice system, including
representatives of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the Louisiana Sheriffs'
Association, the Louisiana Department of Health, and the Louisiana Supreme Court.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
and the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, in conjunction with the technical assistance of the
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, report their
findings to the Louisiana Legislature no later than September 1, 2022.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
Page 3 of 3