LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / June 23, 1999

KILLONA – Ground-breaking for the new St. Charles Parish jail is set July8, just south of Louisiana Highway 3127, near Killona.

The 10 a.m. ceremony will kick off at least two months of sitepreparation, Maj. Sam Zinna of the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office said. Thisincludes filling and leveling of the site and installing water and electrical service.

Actual construction is due to begin in late October or early November, Zinna continued, with completion due in spring 2001.

Meantime, he added, 60 to 70 more jobs will be created, as staffing and training for new jail is conducted. This way, by the time the jail is readyfor use, the jailors will also be ready for the job.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” Zinna said, “that’s for sure.”The $15.5 million project is a cooperative effort between the St. CharlesParish Law Enforcement District, St. Charles Parish government and theLouisiana Depart-ment of Corrections.

It will be paid for through a 20-year bond issue repaid by housing fees received for housing state Department of Corrections prisoners, and joined by $4 million from parish Capital Outlay funds.

The new jail is based on the Terrebonne Parish model, and is a 590-bed jail with separate maximum-, medium- and minimum-security sections.

It will replace a 119-bed facility located on the third floor of the parish courthouse in Hahnville.

The present jail, built in 1978, is at capacity now and a frequent problem for jailorsis finding space. Local inmates are often shipped to neighboringparish jails, but that problem is shared by parish jails across Louisiana.

However, Sheriff Greg Champagne expects the need for more jail space to only grow, and anticipates that in 20 years, the need will increase from 200 now to nearly 350.

Additional problems at present are housing female and juvenile inmates.

Both present special difficulties, and have specific requirements from the U.S. Justice Department.The old facility is proposed to be converted to a 75-to-80-inmate juvenile facility and the new jail would include a separate 78-bed female facility with room for expansion.

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