Report: Louisiana Often Holds Inmates Beyond Release Dates

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Louisiana's prison system routinely holds people beyond their release dates, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday in a report concluding that the state has failed for years to develop solutions to systemic overdetentions that violate inmates' rights and are costly to taxpayers.

The federal department said the state could face a possible lawsuit in mid-March if it doesn't fix the problems, according to a letter to state officials.

Corrections officials have been cooperating in the investigation but are deliberately indifferent to the situation despite having been put on notice about it more than 10 years ago, according to the justice department's 27-page report.

Between January and April 2022 alone, 26.8% of the people released from LDOCs custody were held past their release dates. Of those overdetained people, 24% were held over for at least 90 days, the federal department's news release said.

In that four-month period, the state paid an estimated $850,000 to parish jails holding state inmates beyond their release dates, according to the report.