Louisiana § RS 15:891 - Location of prison facilities

§ RS 15:891. Location of prison facilities

A.  No state prison (other than the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola), lockup, camp, quarter boat, or other state owned and operated correctional facility for the purpose of housing any prisoners or inmates shall be purchased, constructed, located, established, enlarged, or changed in character by the type or classification of prisoners or inmates housed therein within two miles of any residential area until the procedures required by Subsection B hereof have been complied with.  An area shall be considered a residential area if it has been zoned or designated as such by the appropriate local governing authority or if within an area of one-quarter square mile or larger there is a population density of two thousand or more persons per square mile.  

B.  Prior to locating any prison facility in a residential area, the Department of Corrections shall:

(1)  Notify the parish governing authority of the parish wherein the proposed site is located and, if the site is located within a municipality, the governing authority of the municipality.  The notice shall specify the precise location of the proposed site, the exact type of criminals to be incarcerated at the facility, the general degree of security and the type of construction planned, and the date, time, and location of the public hearing required by Paragraph 3 below, which shall be held not less than thirty days after receipt of the notice by the appropriate governing authorities.  

(2)  Publish the notice required by Paragraph 1 hereof in the official parish journal at least once a week for the two consecutive weeks preceding the hearing.  

(3)  Hold a public hearing in the parish where the proposed site is located and, if the site is located within any municipality, hold a hearing within the municipality, at which any interested person or public official may appear.

(4)  Consider the information received as a result of the public hearing for a period of not less than thirty days after the hearing before rendering a final decision on the location of the facility.  

(5)  Upon rendering its final decision, promptly notify the governing authorities specified in Paragraph 1 of the decision.  

C.  The provisions of this Section shall not apply when the location of a prison facility in the parish has been approved by referendum.  

Added by Acts 1978, No. 696, §1, eff. July 14, 1978.