 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2024) |
 Inmates in an Orleans Parish Prison yard | |
 Interactive map of New Orleans City Prison | |
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°57′40″N90°05′43″W / 29.9612046°N 90.0952397°W /29.9612046; -90.0952397 |
| Status | Operational |
| Capacity | 1,438[1] |
| Population | 1,003[2] (as of September 2022) |
| Opened | 1837 |
| Managed by | Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office[3] |
| Warden | Captain Chaz Ruiz[3] |
| Street address | 2800 Perdido St |
| City | New Orleans |
| County | Orleans Parish |
| State/province | Louisiana |
| ZIP Code | 70119 |
| Country | United States |
| Website | Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office |
| Notable prisoners | |
| Troy E. Brown | |
Orleans Parish Prison is the cityjail forNew Orleans, Louisiana. First opened in 1837, it is operated by theOrleans Parish Sheriff's Office. Most of the prisoners—1,300 of the 1,500 or so as of June 2016—are awaiting trial.[4]
In May 2013, Orleans Parish Prison ranked as one of the ten worst prisons in the United States, based on reporting inMother Jones magazine.[5]
The old Parish Prison opened in 1837 on the square bound by Orleans,Tremé, St. Ann, and Marais. During the day, prisoners were kept outside in the segregated courtyards. At night, most prisoners slept on the floor of crowded cells with only two blankets each. The last prisoners left in 1895. The location was later used to construct a building for the Sewerage and Water Board. In 1895,The Times-Picayune described Orleans Parish Prison as:
"the place where refractory slaves were sent to receive a dose of cat o'nine tails, or to be confined in the dungeons in extreme cases the rebellious blacks were kept dark cells on a diet of bread and water. Jailors subjected enslaved people to degrading and torturous prison conditions as a punishment for running away."[6]
The prison closed in early 1895. The new parish prison was completed behind the Criminal Courts building at Elks Place on Tulane and Saratoga that same year, but was poorly built and became damaged from constant use by the 1920s.[7] In 1931, prison and court functions were relocated to new facilities at Tulane and Broad, over one mile straight back on Tulane Avenue. In 1967, the House of Detention complex opened, followed by the Community Corrections Center (CCC) complex in 1976. HOD closed in 2012, and CCC has since been abandoned since 2005.
Just after midnight on May 16, 2025, ten inmates (including six charged with murder or attempted murder)escaped from Orleans Parish Prison through a hole behind a toilet; eight of the ten would be recaptured by May 26. One of the two final inmates at large, Antoine Massey, would be recaptured on June 27, 2025. The final escapee, Derrick Groves, was recaptured on October 8, 2025, nearly five months after the jailbreak.[8]
The Orleans Parish Prison has had tremendous problems for a long time, mostly caused by lack of monitoring of the inmates bydeputies. Several fights, stabbings and deaths have occurred in the prison, mostly in the 13-story high-rise House of Detention which has become infamous. A group of inmates filed a class-action lawsuit against the jail in 1969 but problems still went unaddressed. Statistics researchers considered Orleans Parish Prison to be probably the worst jail in the country. The prison was described as too large, understaffed, and filthy. Prisoners lived in fear of being beaten or raped. In 2012 there were 600 ambulance runs to the emergency room, with more than half of them related to violence.[9] Guards rarely patrolled the House of Detention, one of several buildings comprising the Orleans Parish Prison complex. Prisoners had access to drugs and weapons such as kitchen knives and handguns by way of guards.[10]
On August 29, 2005, whenHurricane Katrina–an extremely destructive and deadly category 5 hurricane–struck the Gulf Coast, the staff ofOrleans Parish Sheriff's Office abandoned the jail, leaving roughly 650 prisoners in their cells with no access to food, water, or ventilation for days.[11] Deputies returned to the Orleans Parish Prison days later and began evacuating inmates to surrounding areas which included theElayn Hunt Correctional Center, theI-10 overpass, and the Broad Street overpass.[12][13]
In over 400 testimonials conducted by theAmerican Civil Liberties Union, prisoners described their experiences during the abandonment which included exposure to floodwater and other elements, hunger, beatings by jail staff and other inmates, and other racially-charged abuse by jail staff.[14] While there is no official death count for prisoners that were left behind, 517 prisoners were later registered as "unaccounted for" byHumans Rights Watch.[15][16][17]
TheFederal Emergency Management Agency dedicated $223 million to the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office for restoration of its facilities followingHurricane Katrina in 2005.[18] The Sheriff's Office has outlined three phases of construction that would utilize these funds.
The Phase I facility is a three-story, 163,885 square foot (15,225.4 m2) building consisting of a kitchen and warehouse.[19]
Opened in 2015,[20] Phase II contains 1,438 beds and cost $146 million to construct.[1]
The Sheriff’s Office plans to build an additional 750-bed facility.[21] The Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition opposes the plan,[22] calling on former Democratic MayorMitch Landrieu's office to "oppose any options involving the expansion of the jail," and instead support "retrofitting of the current jail to better care for incarcerated special populations."[23]
In 2021,Susan Hutson defeated longtime incumbent Marlin Gusman to become the city's next sheriff.[24] Her campaign was centered on opposition to the Phase III planned jail expansion.[25] Nonetheless, it was ultimately unsuccessful; in 2023, a federal judge ordered the city to begin construction.[26]
Between April 2006 and April 2014,The Times-Picayune reports 44 inmate deaths,[27] including seven "uncounted" deaths,[28] referring to inmates released shortly before their deaths. Since the report, there have been five additional fatalities,[29] bringing the total to 49 since April 2006.
The 10 to 12 adult women onboard theGolden Venture vessel from China that washed ashore in theRockaways inNew York City in June 1993 were kept at Orleans Parish Prison for a few years.[30]
On November 29, 2015,state SenatorTroy E. Brown ofAscension Parish was booked in the Orleans Parish Prison fordomestic abuse battery, amisdemeanor stemming from an incident with his alleged long-term paramour, a woman fromLabadieville, at theHyatt Regency Hotel near theSuperdome in New Orleans.[31]