Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration scrapped the centerpiece of his sex offender proposals on Tuesday after deciding the post-prison “civil commitment” program would be too expensive, a health department spokeswoman said.
Lauren Mendes, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Hospitals, said the proposal was dead for the current legislative session.
“It is a concept that DHH and the governor’s office do support and will revisit when it’s more financially viable for Louisiana,” she said.
Rep. Fred Mills’ bill would have provided treatment for certain sex offenders after their release from prison. Mills said the program would require about $12 million over five years — for surveillance equipment, medication and psychiatric evaluations — an expensive price tag in a year of budget cuts.
The idea was geared toward offenders deemed most likely to commit more crimes after being released.
Jindal is backing several bills this year to crack down on sex offenders, but Mills’ was the most ambitious. The others are changes to existing law, such as lengthening certain prison terms for sex crimes.
“We know that Rep. Mills has worked hard on this bill and we support his work to find a more cost-effective way to pursue this legislation, especially as we face multiple-year budget challenges,” said Kyle Plotkin, a spokesman for the governor’s office.
Mills said initial estimates for the civil commitment program — $26,000 annually per sex offender — turned out to be low compared to a similar program in Texas. Most sex offenders in the program would also require the treatments for life, Mills said, compounding the future costs.
Mills told the House Appropriations Committee that he agreed with the governor’s office and DHH that the bill is too costly.
“Between all of us, we got together and said, ‘It’s a good policy, but let’s try it another year,'” said Mills, D-Parks.—-Contact The Daily Reveille news staff at [email protected]