New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is asking the governor to pull state inmates from Orleans Parish Prison. He says it could save tens of millions of dollars on a new jail.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office tells The New Orleans Advocate that the jail holds 380 state inmates.
NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports the sheriff's office was paid almost $7 million last year to house state inmates.
A state corrections official tells The Advocate that the mayor "should work with the sheriff on this local issue."
Officials will review Landrieu's request.
Landrieu and Sheriff Marlin Gusman have been battling over a federal settlement of lawsuits saying the jail is filthy and unsafe.
The city must pay for the changes, but was not part of settlement talks.