OCC Faces Overcrowding & Debt Issues

From misdemeanors to murders -- the Ouachita Correctional Center is where most parish prisoners are held until they're either convicted or let go. But now jail administrators are facing a major uphill climb -- they're nearly 2 million dollars in debt and counting.

1,000 inmates make up the Ouachita Correction Center. That's 150 more than it's maximum capacity of 850. Some are convicted -- others still in the judicial process. But as the jail heads into the new year -- it's faces a two million dollar debt. Some authorities blame the large jail debt on the overcrowding -- with each inmate costing about 11 thousand dollars to house each year.

In order to counteract the debt, the DA's office is expanding it's felony section -- which they hope will expedite inmate's cases and ease the overcrowding.