Candidates for sheriff are laying out plans to take charge of the Orleans Parish jail, offering their visions for financial planning, staff recruitment and the care of, and programming for, incarcerated people.
While the May 16 jailbreak has loomed large in the race, comments by candidates at two recent public forums offer a look at their intentions for the nuts-and-bolts work of running what incumbent Sheriff Susan Hutson has sometimes termed a "mini-city."
Five candidates are challenging Hutson, who is running for re-election, for the sheriff's job. All claim experience working across different areas of the justice and court systems. Some are former deputies.
Taking charge of the jail complex and its daily challenges — frequently over its mandated capacity, plagued by maintenance problems despite the structure's relatively young age, chronic staffing shortages and prone to violent incidents — will be a priority task for the next person to hold the office.
With woes that some experts say extend back decades, the jail remains under a federal consent judgment. Its operations also intersect with legal issues that have lately stoked controversy, such as the housing of 17-year-olds charged as adults and immigration enforcement.
The next sheriff also will likely take on the operation of an expanded mental-health wing of the jail, which is expected to turn over for occupancy in July or August next year, according to documents filed in court this month.
Below is a snapshot of what the candidates are saying about how they'd manage the jail on a day-to-day basis. Their comments are drawn from public candidate forums hosted by Step Up for Action on July 29 and by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women-Greater New Orleans Inc. and partners, known as the Advocacy and Accountability Alliance, on Aug. 17.
Susan Hutson
Orleans Parish sheriff
Hutson, the city's former independent police monitor and the incumbent, has emphasized what she frames as campaign promises met.
Hutson said she has been able to offer deputies raises of more than $3 an hour, but wants to continue to advocate for a long-term pay plan. She also referenced recruitment efforts, saying the jail's staffing has gone up under her tenure from about 45% to about 60%.
Hutson also said she has "take[n] care" of people in custody with programming and that the jail has opportunities, including GED or HiSET exams, as well as vocational training like barbering. She also pointed to offerings of opioid treatment on release and said her administration helped bring in a new mental-health provider.
She said that the jail has needed resources.
"The three threats to this system are funding, because we're not getting that, which impacts staffing, because we don't have a pay plan, and then culture — trying to change a culture that has been wrong and punitive for decades," she said. "You can't do that overnight."
Opponents have regularly taken aim at Hutson, either directly or indirectly, for the events and handling of the jailbreak. Her view is that the jailbreak "wouldn't have happened without inside help," she told prospective voters on Sunday.
"If people are trying to do something malevolent, they can do it."
Michelle Woodfork
Former NOPD interim superintendent, Director of Forensics and Intelligence for the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office
Woodfork is a law-enforcement veteran who served as interim superintendent at the New Orleans Police Department — the first woman to hold the role. She also worked for the sheriff's office before joining NOPD.
If elected sheriff, she plans to focus on "jail improvement, recruitment and retention, rehabilitation, reunification and re-entry," she said.
She touts experience managing a large budget from her time at NOPD, and said she would look at a transition to the city's BRASS accounting system, the use of which was a point of contention under the current administration.
"You have to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. You need to know exactly where every dime is being spent," she said.
Woodfork said the sheriff's office will need a recruitment team to place well-qualified people in roles.
Inside the jail, she said deputies should take crisis-intervention training to help manage people who may have mental illness or use drugs. Many people in jail are there "because of circumstances" and deserve another chance to reduce recidivism, she said.
"How do you give them those second and third chances? You have good rehabilitation programs. You address substance abuse. You address mental health issues," she said.
Edwin M. Shorty Jr.
Lawyer, 2nd City Court constable
Constable of 2nd City Court, Shorty is a lawyer who cites experience working as a sheriff's deputy in college. His law practice focuses on personal injury and bankruptcy law, and suggests his business acumen will help if elected to the sheriff's role.
"We need someone who's going to look at the finances and understands how to rework the numbers," he said, including assessing any state and federal funding that may be available to bolster the office's operations.
Shorty also nodded toward offering flexible scheduling for some individuals working for the sheriff's office, rather than 12-hour shifts, and thinks recruitment will help improve deputies' quality of life.
He said there is a need to be "realistic" about what can be provided at the jail at the moment.
"Until you do some serious recruitment and beef up the workforce so that both the inmates and the deputies are safer, it's kind of a non-starter to talk about educational programs," he said.
“You want to have job training programs so that when individuals do come out, that they have some skills. But we have to be realistic about the programs that we’re going to provide.”
He supports seeing people incarcerated at the jail serving shifts cleaning streets, clearing catch basins, painting over graffiti or taking part in similar workforce development programs.
Shorty encouraged partnerships with local health providers for mental-health treatment in the jail — but stressed an overall shortage of mental-health care availability in the state.
Ernest Lee Sr.
Former sheriff's deputy, LCMC safety officer
Lee is running on more than a decade of experience working for sheriff's offices in three parishes, including Orleans.
In those positions, he said he worked in courts and helped with transportation of incarcerated people, but his primary focus was managing "day-by-day operations of offenders — when it comes to housing them, care, custody and control.”
If elected, he said he wants to keep an open line of communication with the public about how their dollars are being used. He highlighted both recruitment and retention of deputies as important, particularly emphasizing paths to higher education and pay.
"I don't want my officers to be in a position where they have to decide, 'What bill can I pay right now? Or what bill do I have to get [an] extension on?'" he said.
In his deputy work, Lee also worked with a specialized division that helped with rehabilitation, from GED to parenting programming. He said that sometimes people who are incarcerated lack resources, referencing his experience growing up near the St. Thomas housing development.
"So if there's a process ... where we can help the betterment of somebody, I'm all for it," he said.
Lee said he would be unlikely to be able to attend some candidate forums because of work obligations.
Julian Parker
Retired Criminal District Court judge
A former chief judge at the Orleans Criminal District Court, Parker's experience includes work as a prosecutor in the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office.
He said he was a grants manager while working in the district attorney's office and plans to hire for a similar position to round up more dollars and would "surround myself with top CPAs" if elected to the sheriff's role.
"The books have to be open to the public — or the public doesn't want their tax money to go for something that's not working," he said.
He said he would institute pay raises for staff, if funds allow, would add low-cost health insurance and would commence a national search for a warden.
"We're going to hire a top-notch warden to run the jail. We're going to pay that person a decent salary, and we want somebody who can remain calm under pressure," he said.
In terms of programming and welfare for incarcerated people, Parker pointed to his experience leading drug court in Orleans Parish, citing statistics that show a majority of people in jail have a substance-abuse diagnosis. He said the jail is a "captive audience."
Parker said he’s spoken with physicians who will "volunteer" time to assist with managing mental-health issues for people in custody, and also hopes to liaise with local universities on that front.
Bob Murray
Security consultant, former Orleans sheriff’s deputy
A former sheriff's deputy and security consultant, Murray has stressed the need to "live within a budget" while addressing issues like cell locks, fences and plumbing.
He said he would be "laser focused" on security and would plan to immediately hire 100 security personnel within his first 100 days in office.
"That jail is being run just like Walmart would run the jail — with two cashiers," he said.
Murray also said he would eliminate 12-hour shifts at the jail and wants to implement a daycare center nearby to serve the staff, which is mostly female.
At recent forums, he emphasized his belief that the jail is a penal institution first. For example, he said he would decline to call the complex the Orleans Justice Center — its current formal name — in favor of the name Orleans Parish Prison.
He’s also expressed skepticism about programming aimed at enriching the lives of people in custody.
"I'm not concerned about how many people get a GED in our program. I'm concerned about a safe jail because when my jail is safe, my city is safe," he said.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.
