A.(1)  Whenever the jail of a parish is unsafe or unfit for the security of prisoners, or is held by judicial decree unfit for the detention of some or all of the inmates, or presents a security risk to a prisoner or other prisoners or to the public, or whenever a particular prisoner presents a security or health risk to himself or to other prisoners or to the public, the sheriff of the parish maintaining and keeping the prisoner or prisoners may transfer any prisoner or prisoners to the jail or jails of any other parish by written contract with the sheriff of the other parish.

(2)  If the prisoner or prisoners to be transferred are not under sentence to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the sheriff proposing to make the transfer shall notify the court which set bail for the prisoner or prisoners at least seventy-two hours before making the transfer.

(3)  If the prisoner or prisoners transferred are under sentence to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the sheriff transferring the prisoner or prisoners shall notify the department.

B.  The sheriff to whom the transfer of the prisoner or prisoners is made shall receive, for the maintenance of such prisoner or prisoners, the same compensation authorized by law for the keeping and feeding of prisoners, which shall be paid by the parish transferring the prisoner or prisoners.

C.  The sheriff of the parish to which the prisoner is conveyed shall keep the prisoner safe and secure, and subject to all orders or decrees issuing from the parish from which the prisoner was transferred.

D.  The following provisions shall govern the transportation of each prisoner who is incarcerated in a parish prison or other correctional facility located within the state and whose presence is required in a criminal or civil court proceeding in a district court for a parish outside of the judicial district in which the prisoner is incarcerated:

(1)  The district attorney who is to try the prisoner, or the party requesting the prisoner’s presence in a civil proceeding, as the case may be, shall apply to the court in which the court proceeding is to be held for an order directing the transportation of the prisoner.  The district attorney or the party requesting the prisoner’s presence, as the case may be, has the burden of establishing just cause for the prisoner’s presence.

(2)  Upon finding that the prisoner’s presence is required, the court shall order the sheriff of the parish in which the criminal or civil court proceeding is to be held to take custody of the prisoner in the parish in which the prisoner is incarcerated and to transport the prisoner to the parish in which the criminal or civil court proceeding is to be held and return the prisoner to that parish if so required.

(3)  The governing authority of the parish in which the criminal court proceeding is to be held shall reimburse the sheriff of that parish for the expenses incurred by that sheriff in transporting the prisoner to the criminal court proceeding and for returning the prisoner to the parish in which he was incarcerated.  In the case of a civil court proceeding, the party requesting the presence of the prisoner shall  deposit into the registry of the court an amount set by the court to be sufficient to cover the costs of transporting the prisoner to the civil court proceeding and returning the prisoner to the parish in which he was incarcerated.  Upon application of the transporting agency, the court shall pay the transporting agency the costs of transporting the prisoner.

(4)  The provisions of this Subsection shall apply to all prisoners who are incarcerated in parish prisons, regardless of whether they are sentenced to the custody of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections or are sentenced directly to incarceration in the parish prison.

Amended by Acts 1979, No. 399, §1; Acts 1981, No. 780, §1; Acts 1984, No. 222, §1; Acts 1999, No. 317, §1; Acts 2001, No. 842, §2, eff. June 26, 2001.