The Opelousas courier., 1890-10-18
Gran d Jury Report
STATE OF LOUISIANA,
PARISH OF ST. Landry.


The Grand Jurors of the parish of st. Landry,
for the October term, 1890, beg leave to file this
their final report:
We find upon animation of the Court
House, that it is in excellent condition, with
the exception of a leaky roof, which needs
prompt attention.
The Jail is also in good order and well kept
The lower floor, however, about the iron cells
is worn and caved in, and should be cemented
very soon
The prisoners are contented and comfortable
and not in single instance, made complaint OF
liltreatment in any shape or form. high
fence around the Jail is Indispensable, and
should be built at once. As it is at present,
there is nothing to prevent outsiders from
thereby endangering the lives of the officers
and others. The enclosure would ALSO afford
the prisoners the opportunity of obtaining pure
air and exercise, which would add materially
to their comforttand health. 1t would further
more lessen the chances of the inmates escap-
ing from their place of confinement.
The Clerks Office requires immediate atten-
tiOn and is, IN its present state, quite unsafe.
The wall is badly cracked and is rapidly getting
worse and should be, without loss of time, thor
ougP'y secured with iron rods The partition
should be removed and the two offices convert
ed into one. Additional shelves should be
made and more office furniture furnished. We
will add emphatically that the above work can
not commence too soon. While exam;1 1ing the
build ng, our attention was called to the Record
Books in the office. Many of the Record Books
and Indexes are in a dilapidated condition-the
BACKS Delng partly or enflrely torn ON ana Cnc
leaves detacned. and liable to be lost or mis-
placed. These Record Books are Invaluable
and their mutilated condition calls for the im-
mediate attention of the public authorities re-
sponsible for their safe keeping, and we earn
estly call the Police Jury's attention to this
matter as one OF great public Importance. We
alio not mean to reflect by these remarks on the
officials st present in charge of these Records
for much OF the injury was done before they
took charge of the office and was caused by the
frequent and careless handling of them by out
siders and by the lack of proper shelving and
tabl in the Office We find the roads through
out the parish in splendid eondition-better
than ever before known. There has been a
commendable spirit displayed in this matter,
both public and private We must state, how
ever, that there is q tendency to slacken up in
the good work. A bad hole or O plank missing
in bridge, is like weak link in a chain, max
ing the whole bad. Road overseers should be
diligent in attending to- these matters. As
there appears to be difficulty in rigiGly enforc-
ing the present road law, we respectfully re-
commend thata per capita and vehicle tax be
imposed for the keeping up and improvement
of all pub':e roads. We believe that the present
is a very opportune time for such a law. We
see no reason why our roads should not be
made perfect turnpikes.
Having completed our labor and having left
in the hands OF the District Attorney some
cases that came up at q late hour to be disposed
OF by him, we now beg to be discharged.
E. s. CLEMENTS,
Foreman of Grand Jury