Storm-Ravaged Court Building Reopens

NEW ORLEANS — The Orleans Parish criminal courthouse opened its doors for the first time since Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding devastated the building last year.

The hurricane caused the building approximately $4 million in damages, including a flooded evidence room, drowned electrical system and mold growth due to floodwater that stood on the ground floor of the 1930s-era building for several weeks. Judges were forced to use a room at the U.S. District Court since the storm struck, and have only been able to conduct hearings.

Due to limited court space, approximately 5,000 cases are pending in the New Orleans court system. Inmates held at Orleans Parish facilities on nonviolent misdemeanor and traffic violations were released, since judges could not get to their cases quickly enough.

Reduced court activity has also affected the public defender’s office. The number of lawyers and investigators in the defender’s office dropped from 48 to seven, since 75 percent the department’s funding comes from traffic court fines, which have tapered off since the hurricane.

One judge suspended all trials in his courtroom that involved suspects with public defenders, because of concerns that they could not provide an adequate defense.

The first criminal trials are scheduled to begin this summer. Seven courtrooms are set to open and court officials anticipate that they will be able to conduct proceedings in no more than 12 cases a day.