The Jindal administration’s bid to hire a private company to run an Avoyelles Parish prison may be dead this session.
State Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, told the Louisiana House Friday that he is unlikely to move forward with the proposal.
House Bill 850 is sitting on the House calendar, where it has been since Burns scrapped language calling for the sale of Avoyelles Correctional Center in Cottonport. Now the legislation simply calls for privatizing the prison in a move that would cost state workers their jobs.
Under legislation sponsored by Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, the prison still could be sold. That proposal is awaiting a Senate committee hearing.
