More Public Safety or More Public Money?

For years, we’ve warned that Sheriff Mark Garber’s jail policies endanger public safety. Now, he’s refused to book a murder suspect. Is this about protecting the public or padding his budget?

We’ve been talking about our problematic criminal justice system for some time and how the jail policies of Sheriff Mark Garber harm public safety. Whether it be funding, staffing, jail overcrowding, or administrative guidelines, there is always an excuse for why criminals can’t be booked into the jail. But did Mark Garber really refuse to allow a murder suspect to be booked into the Lafayette Parish Jail?

The First Homicide of 2025

The tragic murder of fifteen-year-old Lafayette High School student, Tameron Willis, marked the first homicide of the year in the City of Lafayette. Willis was fatally shot at his home on Arthur Street. It didn’t take the Lafayette Police Department long to pick up two suspects. On February 5, 2025, Markeisha Lawrence of Lafayette was arrested and booked for one count of second-degree murder and illegal discharge of a weapon. Likewise, Aerial Biagas was arrested and booked on one count of second-degree murder, illegal discharge of a weapon, illegal possession of a handgun, and resisting an officer.

These are the facts commonly known to the public. Swift police work by the officers of the Lafayette Police Department took these dangerous criminal suspects off the street. But it is what the public didn’t hear about, didn’t read in the paper, and didn’t see on the nightly news that is most alarming. The Sheriff of Lafayette Parish, Mark Garber, refused to book and house Aerial Biagas for second-degree murder.

The Jail is Overcrowded…

You can expect the Garber cheerleaders to chant that on Facebook and every other Social Media platform. No, the jail isn’t overcrowded. How do we know? Because we actually request and review the documents. The jail was not overcrowded on February 1, 2025, when Lafayette Police initially had Biagas in custody and attempted to book her. They were simply advised that the prisoner would not be accepted into the facility.

Garber insists the jail is overcrowded, yet today it houses 600 inmates—far below the 900 it managed comfortably in 2015. So was he misleading the public then, or is he misleading us now? You don’t have to believe us. You can listen to Garber himself.

 

Additionally, Garber said the diversionary programs effectively reduced jail overcrowding and that he simply “needed to more of it and do it more effectively.” Yet, one of the first things Garber began to do after taking office was dismantling and eliminating those very same diversionary programs. How effective have Garber’s policies been? Garber’s policies have not only created a revolving door for criminals but have also undermined the very officers working to keep our streets safe.

The jail hasn’t changed.

It is the same physical building that began operations in 1984. The number of individuals being housed in the facility has increased over time, but the actual physical space to house offenders has changed very little. So, why are fewer prisoners being allowed to be housed at LPCC? It comes down to one reason—Sheriff Mark Garber.

We have looked at other instances where the Lafayette Parish Sheriff has refused to book prisoners. On each occasion, the jail was not overcrowded or even at capacity. The Sheriff has never declared a state of emergency as required by state law if the facility was, in fact, over capacity. He just continues to try to leverage the jail for his benefit.

You don’t understand…  the prisoners aren’t the same…

This is yet another lie being told. The prisoners being housed today in the Lafayette Parish Jail aren’t that much different than those housed twenty years ago. There are males and females, violent and non-violent, short-term and long-term. Classification, the process of sorting and warehousing prisoners, hasn’t changed much either.

Garber has pretty much indicated that almost all the offenders being housed are violent. If only violent offenders were housed in the jail, things would actually be much more manageable. But despite these claims, Garber’s own records reveal this is just another lie.

The Lafayette Parish Correctional Center primarily houses an even mix of high-security and medium-security inmates, with very few minimum-security inmates. The Annex facility remains empty. Garber has indicated that the facility is not designed to house anything but minimum-security inmates, but the fact is it was intended to house medium-security prisoners. However, for the right price, Garber is willing to make it work. At least, that is what he indicated in an interview on the Ross Report last year. Go figure!

Did Garber Defy State Law to Follow PREA?

The answer is straightforward. The policies of Sheriff Mark Garber don’t allow it. According to an e-mail received by LCG CAO Rachel Godeaux from Chief Deputy Carlos Stout, “… the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office is unable to house any 17-year-old youthful offender within the LPCC due to PREA guidelines even in the event of pending adult felony charges.” The acts of Sheriff Garber prompted the Lafayette Police Department to seek an Order from a Judge to house the offender at a facility out of state. What do you think that is going to cost the taxpayers?

Stout, like Garber, took an Oath of Office to uphold the laws of this state. It is the policy of our state, as determined by our legislature, that a 17-year-old is an adult in the state of Louisiana. As such, they are to be housed in adult jails, tried in adult courts, and, if convicted, sentenced to adult prisons. But the Lafayette Sheriff doesn’t care about the law or court orders. He is more concerned with PREA guidelines.

Does PREA Actually Prevent 17-Year-Olds From Being Housed?

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed by the United States Congress in 2003. Following the passage of the Act, bureaucrats began working out the details. By May of 2012, the final PREA standards were adopted. Section 30307 describes the effect and applicability of the national standards. They are listed as applying to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Health and Human Services. But what about the States?

They don’t apply to the States unless the state wants to receive certain federal funds. In such instances, for each year a state is non-compliant with the standards, its federal funding under a grant program covered by the act will be reduced by 5% each year. Garber is bending over backward to satisfy unelected Washington bureaucrats, even when it contradicts Louisiana law and public safety. More importantly, your safety takes a back seat to anything that stands in the way of him getting more money.

If you actually delve into the standards, you will see something rather interesting. PREA defines the term “juvenile” as “any person under the age of 18, unless under adult court supervision and confined or detained in a prison or jail.”  So, quite simply, a 17-year-old in the state of Louisiana is not a juvenile under PREA because they are under adult court supervision.

PREA explained further…

Then, PREA magically creates a new category of prisoner: the “Youthful inmate.” PREA defines a ‘youthful inmate’ as anyone under 18—unless they are under adult court supervision. Louisiana law explicitly classifies 17-year-olds as adults. So why is Garber treating them as juveniles to satisfy federal bureaucrats?

The standards then require that a youthful inmate shall not be housed in an area where they have sight, sound, or physical contact with an adult inmate. Garber is trying to serve two masters – the state and the federal government. Ultimately, he doesn’t feel any accountability to the voters and the victims of criminal activities, which continue to increase under his administration’s failed public safety policies.

Again, our state elected officials have determined that 17-year-olds are adults, should be housed in adult jails, and are subject to the jurisdiction of adult courts. Some unelected federal bureaucrats have decided that a person under the age of 17 must be separated from someone aged 18 or older. In reality, the whole idea is ridiculous. You can find multiple teenagers housed in the LPCC today. They are housed in the same units as people in their twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties.

Age should not be the sole determining factor; risk should be. Likewise, if a 17-year-old were allowed to be housed in a juvenile facility, as was the case under the previous law before it reverted, they would be in contact with children ages 14, 15, and 16. That is why risk is the most crucial factor to be considered. But Garber also just seems to ignore his own risk (classifications) assessments by housing minimum security offenders in the same housing units with both medium and maximum-security prisoners.

Public safety or public money?

This will not end until our state elected officials stand by their policy or cave to the pressure of Louisiana Sheriffs and Federal Bureaucrats. It looks like the people elected to serve you have already begun to cave, with millions of dollars being allocated for constructing and/or renovating facilities to house 17-year-olds outside of parish jails.

As for Lafayette, Sheriff Mark Garber’s arguments are inconsistent and change like the weather. The fact is that he believes in whatever practice provides his office the most money. When that day comes, you can bet he will be the first to push against ending the inventory tax in Lafayette Parish. Public safety once mattered in Lafayette Parish. Under Garber, it’s just another budget line item—sacrificed for cash while criminals go free.

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