BOGGS ADDRESSES PRISON OVERPOPULATION CONCERNS

District Attorney hopeful Mike Boggs told a group of concerned Webster
Parish officials Tuesday that if victorious in the fall election, he will
be a strong advocate for reducing the parish prison population. "Jail
census should be one of a district attorney's top priorities," Boggs told
the Webster Parish Judicial/Prisoner Overview Team. "It will definitely be
one of mine."

Boggs' visit was the first of three where group members will seek guidance
from each district attorney candidate. Other hopefuls Schuyler Marvin and
Michael Nerren will speak in the coming months. The overview team is a
group of representatives from the Webster police jury, the sheriff's
office, the DA's office as well as local judges and members of the indigent
defender board. The group formed in the spring to address growing concerns
regarding a higher than usual number of parish prisoners housed in Webster
jails.

The board is also concerned that prisoners spend too much time in the jails
before moving through the legal system.

"If I'm the district attorney and I see a parish prisoner in jail too long,
then I am going to go and get them," he said.

In 2001, Webster jail facilities averaged 154 parish inmates, those that
have been charged with a crime but not yet adjudicated. The cost of caring
for those prisoners runs around $1.9 million a year.

The newly constructed Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center can hold 340
prisoners; however, group members want the majority of those bunks to be
occupied by prisoners from the Louisiana Department of Corrections -
prisoners that the parish earns revenue for housing.

Boggs said he crunched a few numbers and discovered in 1999 there were 337
drug arrests in Webster Parish; however, only two of those arrested ever
went to trial. In addition, he said more than 40 percent of the arrests
were not even charged.

"If you can't charge and convict more than half of your arrests then
something is wrong," he said. "And I refuse to believe our officers are
dropping the ball."

Boggs said the group meetings are a good start to solving the problems, as
communication is what he believes to be the key to alleviating the money woes.

"You've got to look at the numbers and see who is going in and what is
happening when they get in there," he said. "Then you have got to look at
those past numbers and establish some type of baseline to compare and see
how to improve."

If elected, Boggs said he would hold similar meetings to try and discover
what problems group members have with the district attorney office.

"I want to talk about the problems, then I want to talk about the
solutions," he said. "I don't have all the answers, but I do have the
desire to work together and get things back on track."

Boggs will also be the guest speaker during Thursday's noon meeting of the
Minden Lions Club at the American Legion Hall on Pine Street.