Vermilion Parish Sheriff Ordered To Provide Records Of Detained Immigrants

LAFAYETTE, LA. (AP) - A state judge in Crowley has ordered the Vermilion Parish sheriff to provide records of immigrants detained since 2009 to a legal nonprofit.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has asked 63 Louisiana sheriffs for such records, to see whether people held for Immigration and customs enforcement officials after arrests on other charges were jailed without bond longer than federal law allows. Staff attorney Meredith Stewart says Vermilion Sheriff Michael Couvillon was among 15 who refused. The group sued Couvillon.

Stewart said Tuesday that he gave the group access to the records late last week, after being ordered to do so by state District Judge Herman Clause. Stewart says New Orleans was not asked to turn over documents because attorneys focused elsewhere in the state.