WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Over 100,000 outstanding warrants waiting to be served

Over 100,000 outstanding warrants waiting to be served

By Caroline Moses - bio | email

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - There are thousands of outstanding warrants waiting to be served in East Baton Rouge Parish.

The Baker police chief says the reason there are so many outstanding warrants is the lack of jail space. East Baton Rouge Constable's Office officials say it's also because of a lack of funding. "There's a lot of people that get to walk that shouldn't walk," said Chief Knapps. "And, domestic violence, if it's a misdemeanor, it doesn't guarantee a spot."

Knapps says parish prisons and jails are already packed full of inmates. At this point, they must prioritize which offenders go behind bars. "The bottom line is there is no place to put the people with misdemeanor warrants." He says offenders seem to know that because many are not resolving their outstanding charges. "They have no respect for the system and they're not showing up for court when it's their time. They're not paying their tickets and they're not showing up."

A total of more than 100,000 warrants are currently outstanding. "Unless we come in contact with that person, we don't just have someone that goes out and works those warrants," said Lt. John Lawton with the East Baton Rouge Constable's Office. At one time, it did have a warrants division, but that was eliminated because of budget cuts. Now, the entire department has 40 deputies that mainly work security at the city jail and courthouse. "We're limited on our personnel. We don't have a warrant division," Lawton said.

Instead, deputies work with other law enforcement agencies to go on occasional warrant round-ups, but both Chief Knapps and Lt. Lawton say that leaves thousands of offenders still on the streets. They say Sheriff Sid Gautreaux is working to secure more prison space. In the meantime, if they have a misdemeanor case that they feel is a priority; they say Sheriff Gautreaux will make room somewhere.