As your sheriff I indicated early in the course of my first term that I would be taking steps to bring the various divisions of the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office, which were at the time dispersed in different locations, to one central complex. My primary objective was to improve the operating efficiency and managerial control. The first phase of this project was achieved three years ago when the new 24,000 square foot facility located at 1592 E. Prudhomme St., Opelousas was completed. At that time, the Administrative, Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Juvenile, Evidence and Records Divisions were relocated to that facility, now commonly referred to as the “Public Safety Complex”.
I recently announced plans to move the dispatch operations for the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office from the current location at the St. Landry Parish E-911 Communications District facility to the new complex. This decision represents another step in my master plan to consolidate all sheriffs’ office operations at this site. The dispatchers will retain a direct line to the E-911 operations center in order to maintain the close working relationship necessary for effective emergency communications. We anticipate that this move will be completed by June 1st 2018.
The third phase of my consolidation effort is set to begin by April when construction of a new Tax Collections and Civil Department building is set to begin. This 9817 square foot building will be situated adjacent to the existing complex and will afford easy access and parking for the public. Completion is expected by January of 2019. All these consolidations were at no extra cost to the public, the entire project was funded by cost cutting measures I implemented with the help of my staff.
