It’s a long story that will be explained in a future column.
The skinny is that Caddo Sheriff Henry Whitehorn wants Caddo Parish to purchase with his office a former car dealership in the Shreveport auto mall. The appraised price is $5.8 million, and it can be purchased for $5.5 million. The Sheriff will pay 50% of the purchase price.
This location would replace the two Sheriff substations at 4910 North Market and 1501 Corporate Drive. The planned purchase is the former Yokum Mitsubishi campus at 8750 Business Park Drive. It is a 42,750 square-foot facility.
Currently the Parish leases the two substation locations for the Sheriff. The Parish must provide office space/facilities for the Caddo DA, the Coroner, the Registrar of Voters, Clerk of Court and the Sheriff.
Many details must be fleshed out before the Caddo Commission can make a final determination. The Sheriff offered to pay the maintenance costs for the first four years. Other issues that must be resolved include ownership of the facility—the Parish solely or the Parish and the Sheriff Office. The Sheriff indicated that certain renovations would be needed although he did not say if his office would pay the costs.
More to come on this issue.