A recent report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor shows that Louisiana’s Department of Health has been dealing with a handful of persistent financial and compliance issues over the last few years, The Center Square reports. While the report notes some progress, the agency has reportedly failed to resolve a majority of issues identified in prior audits—some for as long as seven years. The audit, reviewing the status of problems flagged in a March 2024 management letter, notes that LDH had resolved only one issue: inadequate controls over and noncompliance with National Correct Coding Initiative requirements. Remaining concerns—ranging from financial misreporting to Medicaid eligibility and provider oversight—remain unresolved and, in some cases, have worsened. LDH points to staffing shortages and insufficient training as causes of the reporting errors.

Northwestern State University will award diplomas during three Commencement ceremonies Wednesday, May 14 and Thursday, May 15 in Prather Coliseum. The ceremony for graduates from the College of Business and Technology and the Gallaspy College of Education and Human Development will be at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 14. The ceremony for graduates from the College of Nursing and School of Allied Health will be at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 14. The ceremony for graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Louisiana Scholars’ College will be at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, May 15. Also during the 10:00 a.m. ceremony, NSU’s graduate class of 1975 will be recognized and awarded 50-year diplomas in celebration of their Golden Jubilee. All ceremonies will be live streamed via www.nsula.edu. For a detailed schedule, a list of Frequently Asked Questions and candidate information, visit www.nsula.edu/graduation.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents cited two subjects for alleged turkey hunting violations in Vernon Parish on April 12. Agents cited Ashley Bass, 45, of Lake Charles, and Charles Bass, 66, of Pitkin, for hunting turkeys over a baited area. On March 27, agents on patrol near Pitkin located and documented numerous feeders actively throwing whole kernel corn and birdseed with a turkey hunting blind about 200 yards away. Agents setup surveillance on the area and observed Ashley Bass and Charles Bass place a decoy near the blind and then enter the turkey blind near the baited area. Agents then made contact with the subjects and issued them citations. According to the 2025 Turkey Regulations, no person shall hunt or take turkeys by the aid of baiting or on or over a baited area. Hunters are not allowed to place, expose, deposit or scatter corn, wheat or other grain, salt or other feed to lure turkeys to their hunting area. Hunting turkeys over a baited area brings a $250 to $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail.

Senator Bill Cassidy met with law enforcement officials from several Cenla parishes last week in Bentley. Grant Parish Sheriff Steve McCain was joined by sheriffs and officials from Rapides, Natchitoches, Winn, Vernon, Grant, Webster, and Claiborne Parishes. Officials said they met with Cassidy to discuss the growing expenses from policing Kisatchie National Forest without support from the federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT program. Senator Cassidy said, "...Our sheriffs in Central Louisiana told me how they’re providing law enforcement on federal lands. This is a service like any other service federal parks pay for. They should pay for this too." Cassidy reportedly agreed with the sheriffs’ view that the U.S. Forest Service should treat payments for local law-enforcement services like a routine budget item, akin to any other operational expenditure. As a result of the meeting, officials agreed to compile the cost each parish pays to patrol Kisatchie National Forest and to compare those costs with sheriff’s associations in other states. The findings will be sent to Senator Cassidy, who will then work with colleagues in states like Nevada and Utah to create a bipartisan effort to support local law-enforcement agencies that police federal lands with PILT-style reimbursements.

A grand jury in Catahoula Parish indicted Thomas Steven Sanders on April 14 for the first-degree murder of 12-year-old Lexis Roberts of Las Vegas in 2010. Since 2014 and prior to December 2024, Sanders was on federal death row. He was first sentenced to death by a jury at the Alexandria Federal Courthouse in 2014 after he admitted to kidnapping Lexis Roberts in Arizona and killing her in Catahoula Parish. He also admitted to murdering Lexis mother, Suellen Roberts, in Arizona. Sanders was in the process of appealing his death sentence in at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans until his and 36 other inmates sentences’ were commuted to life imprisonment by former President Joe Biden in December 2024. Following Monday’s indictment in Catahoula Parish, Sanders may again face the death penalty, this time by the State of Louisiana. Catahoula Parish District Attorney Brad Burget said that nine of 12 grand jury members concurred with Sander’s indictment at Monday’s trial. Sanders is currently imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary in Terry Haute, Indiana. However, Burget is pushing for Sanders’ to be extradited back to Louisiana.

Jeffrey K. Hudnall, a 58-year-old man from Jonesville, is facing multiple charges related to illegal turkey hunting in Catahoula Parish. On March 21, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents apprehended Hudnall on accusations of hunting turkeys out of season and trespassing on private land, as reported by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries. Turkey season hadn't begun as of the date of Hudnall's arrest, with an official start set for April 5. Despite the clear regulations, agents collected three freshly harvested male turkeys, hidden allegedly by Hudnall, who was caught in the act of hunting. Each offense of hunting wildlife during a closed season and hiding it comes with heavy fines and possible jail time. The legal bag limits in Louisiana restrict hunters to two adult male turkeys per season and only one per day, a rule clearly disregarded if the agents' discovery of three turkeys is any indication. The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries reports that Hudnall was booked into Catahoula Parish Jail and now faces charges of taking turkeys during a closed season, intentional concealment of wildlife, not tagging harvested turkeys, criminal trespassing, and exceeding the daily and seasonal bag limits of turkeys.

Winn Parish Sheriff's Department Arrest Report

Winnfield Police Department Arrest Report

The next meeting of the Louisiana Crime Victims Reparations Board will be on Tuesday, April 8, at 9:00 a.m., at the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement Office, at 602 North Fifth Street in Baton Rouge. The public is invited to attend this meeting, and assistance will be provided to those who need special accommodations in order to attend this meeting. For more information, persons may call 225.342.1500