By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

CONVENT – New state mandates regarding proper licensing requirements for juvenile detention facilities are putting operations at the St. James Parish facility in jeopardy, according to Parish President Timmy Roussel.

During the last parish council meeting, Roussel explained that operation of juvenile facilities has shifted from the state Office of Juvenile Justice to the Department of Children and Family Services. The shift comes with new licensing requirements that must be up to standard by January 2013.

Roussel said a recent review of operations at the St. James detention center showed a lack of compliance in a host of structural and administrative areas, including separate buildings and gender specific guards for male and female occupants as well as additional guards for overnight operations. He said the facility would not be ready in time for the parish to submit licensing application paperwork by the state-mandated April 30 deadline.

“It could require us to construct a brand new building to being the facility up to the compliance with the new rules,” Roussel said. “This is a serious elephant on our back right now.”

The St. James Juvenile Detention Facility serves 25 jurisdictions across six neighboring parishes that include St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes. The facility has a current staff of 42 and a capacity of about 40. Roussel said about 30 children presently occupy the center.

“We want to do what we can to save those 42 employees and keep our neighboring parishes from looking elsewhere for facilities to house juvenile offenders,” Roussel said.

Roussel said the parish has asked state legislators to draft a pair of bills that would give the parish some time to bring the detention center up to standard. The parish is asking for a two-year extension on the licensing deadline.

In addition, the parish is also asking that the state create a multi-jurisdictional board of commissioners to support and promote operations at the St. James Detention Center. The 10-member board would include members selected by the governing bodies, Sheriff’s and District Attorneys in each participating parish, as well as judges handling juvenile cases in those parishes.

“The board would help St. James defer some of the cost of operating the facility to neighboring parishes who send occupants to the facility,” Roussel said. “We would like to have the board in place by the 2012-2013 fiscal year.”

In other action from the meeting, Roussel mentioned a proposal from Shell regarding possible construction of a 280-mile pipeline connecting the company’s capline system in St. James to a refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.

Roussel said the 36-inch pipeline would carry crude oil across 11 parishes and two Texas counties. He said the project is still in the early stages and added that Shell has begun to contact landowners for surveying. Construction wwill not begin until at least 2014.