Moving Forward

When the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office moved into its new 28,000-square foot public safety complex this spring it was the realization of a long-standing goal of Sheriff Bobby Guidroz and it made a significant improvement in the ability of his deputies to protect and serve the people of the parish.

The complex, sitting on the five-acre campus of the former Acadiana Preparatory School at 1592 E. Prudhomme Lane has enough space to consolidate almost all of the departments into one building. The renovation to the one-time classroom building took about two years and cost $2.1 million, paid in full without any extra burden on parish taxpayers.

Guidroz said he began setting aside a part of his regular budget each year since he took office in 2006 and that he was able to save up enough to pay for the project.

“I’ve spent the past eight years saving and setting aside for this project,” the sheriff said. “I’m happy to say there is no note on this building. The taxpayers should be happy with that.”

Guidroz also noted that the $2.1 million cost is substantially less than that of similar complexes in other parishes that have cost $8 million to $10 million. He said that he and Major Richard Williams substantially designed the layout, and that he was able to save money by using inmate labor to gut the school building that had been vacant for ten years.

The new facility, the sheriff said, “represents a great achievement for all of us who have struggled to make it happen. Our parish now has a fitting home for the finest sheriff’s office in the state.”

Administrative offices that were located on the first floor of the overcrowded St. Landry Parish jail in downtown Opelousas are now in the new facility, along with every department but the civil and training departments. Besides 

administrative offices, that includes the patrol, detective, narcotics, and juvenile divisions.

The complex also houses a crime lab that Guidroz says, “gives investigators immediate access to the type of evidence examination and processing that normally is available only to large, heavily-funded departments like the State Police or Baton Rouge police department.

“We will no longer have to rely on a major crime scene team from the State Police, we have that capacity now,” Guidroz said. The facility will also lessen the parish’s dependence on the overworked Acadiana Crime Lab in New Iberia for processing crime scene evidence.

Guidroz plans to move the civil department from the parish courthouse to the new facility and will also renovate the former school gymnasium to house the training department. The sheriff says the gym provides “a perfect environment” for that department.

“We now have 98 percent of the department under one roof,” he said. “Within three years we should have everyone in the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office right here in one location.”

Guidroz wants to add dormitory-style housing for 20 to 30 non-violent offenders on the first floor of the old jail and is working with parish government to find funds for that renovation. He said creating the dormitory would provide a holding facility that would allow the department to separate non-violent, short-term inmates from other offenders.

The sheriff also pointed out that the consolidation brings another, unremarked but much appreciated benefit for people who have business in downtown Opelousas. It frees up dozens of hard-to-find parking spaces near the parish courthouse.