VIDALIA, La. – Both Seventh Judicial District judges said Wednesday they will be glad to meet with a Concordia Parish Police Jury committee and other local officials to discuss solutions to yearly shortages in the criminal court fund.

But Judge Leo Boothe and Judge Kathy Johnson also said they have serious concerns about reducing bonds in order to reduce the number of pre-trial defendants being housed at the expense of the parish.

At Monday’s police jury meeting, as well as one held June 14, Juror Gene Allen expressed concerns about the jury’s paying thousands of dollars for housing, feeding and health care for pre-trial prisoners while also having to foot the bill for criminal court expenses. Under state law, the police jury is required to do both. But Allen, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, said Monday he wants to ask the judges to consider reducing such bonds as a solution to growing prisoner costs.

So on Monday, police jury President Charlie Blaney appointed jurors Allen, Cathy Darden and Melvin Ferrington to discuss with the judges that possibility, as well as possible solutions to annual deficits in the criminal court fund.

Johnson and Boothe both said no one from the committee has approached them yet about meeting on the subjects of prisoner care and the criminal court fund. &uot;But I&160;would be willing to meet with them to discuss the overall situation,&uot;&160;Boothe said.

The committee will probably meet late next week to discuss what issues it would like to address, then would meet with the judges the week after that, Ferrington said.

Johnson said she would like to see judges, police jurors and representatives of the sheriff’s office and the district attorney’s office meet to discuss such subjects.

But as far as reducing bonds for local offenders is concerned, both judges have serious concerns.

&uot;Our policy is to have significant bonds to keep serious criminals off the streets,&uot; Boothe said.

Not many people who are not charged with violent or drug-related crimes are kept at the jail for a significant amount of time anyway, Boothe said. &uot;So I&160;doubt this (bond reduction) would apply to many of the people we have down there,&uot; he added.

The sheriff’s office is currently housing 38 parish, or pre-trial, prisoners, according to the department’s own figures.

Johnson also pointed out that under state law, judges are required to consider certain criteria when setting bond, including the person’s criminal history and the seriousness of the offense with which they are charged.

She said she would be happy to set bonds at lower levels when possible and with certain conditions, such as nightly curfews – if the police jury and the sheriff’s office had enough money to hire an officer to check on whether those bond conditions were being met.

But neither the jury nor the sheriff’s office has the money to do that, she noted. &uot;And I can’t go and check to see whether these people are breaking curfew or not,&uot;&160;Johnson added.

The jury spent about $115,000 on prisoner care last year, according to Charlie Blaney. According to Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office figures, the sheriff’s office paid $213,525 of its own funds for prisoner care.

&uot;With the budget cuts we’re facing (due to decreasing ad valorem taxes), I&160;honestly don’t know how much longer we can subsidize the parish prisoner care,&uot; said Sheriff Randy Maxwell.

Meanwhile, in 1999 the criminal court fund took in $97,976 in fines and forfeitures, while it spent $117,604 for criminal court expenses such as personnel and supplies for the offices of the judges and the district attorney.

Even with $10,000 transferred from the general fund and a beginning balance of $2,752, the criminal court fund ended up with a deficit of $6,876.

&uot;I don’t know what the solution is, but we’ve got to do something,&uot;&160;Darden said.

&uot;I&160;think this (discussion) will make a difference, because I think we’re all willing to work together to make it happen,&uot; Ferrington said.