Caddo jail population climbs above rated capacity

(The Center Square) – The population at the Caddo Correctional Center is nearing 1,700 inmates, Caddo Parish Administrator Erica Bryant told commissioners Monday, putting the jail roughly 200 inmates above its rated capacity.

Commissioner John-Paul Young asked Bryant for the current population during the Caddo Parish Commission meeting. Bryant said she did not have the most recent exact figure but that the population was “close to 1700.”

The Caddo Correctional Center is rated for 1,500 beds, according to the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office.

The population represents about 113% of the jail's rated capacity.

The jail has faced persistent overcrowding. In April, Caddo Parish officials said the facility was holding more than 1,500 inmates in a facility built to hold 1,170, and the parish proposed a home-incarceration program with electronic monitoring for some nonviolent misdemeanor offenders.

The discussion came after Bryant provided commissioners with August financial information and juvenile detention figures. She reported 17 juveniles in detention, including one 17-year-old, along with three in the Office of Juvenile Justice system, 15 at CCC and 414 probation cases. Bryant said the numbers at CCC were rising.

The juvenile detention figures are separate from the overall CCC inmate population discussed later in the meeting.

Caddo's jail population has been a longstanding issue for parish officials and criminal justice leaders. A 2023 Criminal Justice Task Force report said the facility was originally constructed for 1,070 inmates but had an operational capacity of 1,500 after capacity was expanded without adding physical space.

Louisiana Editor

This story originally appeared on thecentersquare.com.