Opinion Number

Dear Mr. Hodgkins:

This opinion involves an interpretation of LSA-R.S.15:824(B)(1)(a) and Act 15 of 1993, the General Appropriations Act for 1993-1994.

Each parish sheriff receives a per diem from the Department of Public Safety and Corrections for the housing of state inmates in parish jail facilities. This payment is provided by LSA-R.S.15:824(B)(1)(a), which states in part:

". . . the department shall pay to each parish sheriff, or to the governing authority of those parishes in which the governing authority operates the parish jail, for keeping and feeding the individual in the parish jail…