Published: April 12, 2023
By: Molly Ryan and Jenna Bridges, LSU Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE–The House Appropriations Committee discussed Tuesday expanding the budgets for youth, corrections and public safety services as state officials expressed a need to address employee turnover rates through higher salaries.
Corrections Department Secretary James LeBlanc underscored the stressful, difficult work his staff does and noted that shots have recently been fired at probation officers.
Col. Lamar Davis, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, said Louisiana is short 166 state troopers. He believes the state needs to make trooper salaries more competitive, citing that Louisiana’s starting pay for troopers is lower than in neighboring states like Mississippi.
“We have some very good, very smart people out there with good hearts, but we have to pay them,” he said.
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LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 