By Pat Culverhouse
Scott Tucker has served 31 years in law enforcement in Webster Parish, and his career with the parish Sheriff’s Office has taken a new, unexpected path.
“I run the largest adult day care center in Webster Parish,” Tucker told members of the Minden Lions Club, describing his new assignment as warden at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center (BDCC).
Tucker said he learned of his new job as BDCC warden in a round-about way. While driving home from his wife’s Webster Parish School Board retirement party, she asked about my new job.
“I asked what she meant, and she said she had spoken with Sheriff (Jason) Parker and he said I would be the next warden. I thought it was a joke, so I checked with the guy who had been my partner for nearly 26 years and he already knew about it. He said, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve been talking about that for some time.’ And that’s how I found out.”
He took over reins at the parish prison in September, 2024, and told club members he’s in a learning process that requires lots of time.
“I never worked corrections so that means I am learning every day. I’m constantly studying,” he said. “I can say that the days I may have slipped out of the office a little early, I’m paying those back now.”
Tucker runs a facility that houses an average of 600 inmates, including general population and transitional work programs. The roughly 120 inmates in the work program are contributing to the parish and to themselves, he said.
“You see them out working, helping small towns that cannot afford maintenance personnel,” he said. “Some also work without deputy supervision in various businesses, and we only work for those that provide W-2 forms. The advantage to these employers is they can depend on the workers being there every day, on time.”
Work release participants can use the program to help insure they have a good start once their sentence is served.
“They’re paid, and a percentage of their paycheck goes to us for room and board and the rest is something they can build on and have money when they get out,” Tucker said. “We have had a couple of inmates who walked out with around seventy thousand dollars they had saved. And, they are paying child support while they’re incarcerated.”
At BDCC, Tucker said his staff provides an average of 1,800 meals daily which averages roughly 56,000 monthly, and a staggering 672,000 annually. Those meals are prepared primarily using inmate staff. His average meal cost is around five dollars each, he said, “…and we’re trying to get it lower, but that’s a major endeavor.”
Some of the improvements he’s made at BDCC include a new camera security system, one that was made utilizing previously used equipment. As head of procurement under Sheriff Jason Parker’s new administrative program, Tucker said he was not afraid of clearance or bargains in getting the best bang for the buck.
“I found out the National Guard was changing its camera system, so I talked to them and got their replaced system at a very good price. That included servers, software, cameras, everything,” he said. “This upgraded our system and now I can see what’s going on everywhere. We’ve also upgraded our computer network.”
Tucker said he’s trying to establish every program available to him that will help inmates who want to better themselves. Various classes for inmates are presented by Department of Corrections instructors, including a class for sex offenders which he said is one of the only such class offered in the state.
Offering these programs results in a better environment inside the prison, he said.
“They make it better for us, because we’re not having to house the worst of the worst,” Tucker said. “We have some inmates who are taking college courses which they’re paying for themselves. We have one who is about to get his bachelor’s degree and some others who are getting associate degrees.”
Other programs include Celebrate Recovery, AA and religious services that Tucker said are not denominational in nature. A nonsectarian, volunteer Chaplin comes to the prison to conduct services.
Tucker said female prisoners are still housed at the parish courthouse, but that will change when the new women’s facility is completed at the site of the old Penal Farm south of Minden. Currently, the courthouse jail holds up to 64 female inmates.
Offering female inmates options for several classes isn’t practical at the courthouse, Tucker said, but that will change when the new facility is completed. There, classrooms will be available for several programs he wants to see introduced. And, he added, there is one new class scheduled to begin within the week, thanks to a grant from the local technical college.
“The vocational school (Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College) obtained a grant and we will start this week with 12 inmates going to heavy equipment operator’s class,” Tucker said. “These first 12 will be females. This means they will not have to get out and start a minimum wage job. I think this is going to be successful.”
Tucker said the technical college is also working on a Second Chance Pell Grant the will offer more classes such as welding for all inmates. It would be the first classes available since 2019, he noted.
Inmates are also beneficiaries of assistance from local businesses, Tucker said. The owner of Mercy’s Closet has helped with clothing female inmates who work, and is doing so without charging the parish. Also, a local bank has offered to advise the work release inmates on financial planning.
Responding to a question, Tucker said inmates are held to a fairly rigid daily schedule. Wake-up for breakfast begins at 3 a.m., with lunch at 10 a.m. and dinner at 4 p.m. Meals are served in shifts. Head counts and searches are conducted throughout the day, and the days end with lights out at 10 p.m.
Inmates are also provided with both federal and state mandated items such as TV and recreational activities. His main dormitories have only basic TV while inmates in the transitional work area do get satellite television. “They work for that little extra benefit,” Tucker said.
Tucker said his facility is staffed by about 90 individuals, including part-time workers and drivers. Morale among the staff is good, and he tries to keep the mood light but serious.
Although he tries to avoid housing serious offenders, Tucker said not all at the prison is “peaches and cream.”
“We do have bad people out there…some gang members, the shooters from Dubberly are there,” he said. “We try not to keep long sentence individuals, our average is between five and seven years. We have very good relationships with other jails and if we need to make a transfer, we can work something out. If there is a major problem, DOC will handle them.”
Roughly two-thirds of the inmates at BDCC are from outside Webster Parish, Tucker said.
“I have learned I can bring someone from down south and they will do better on work release because they do not have friends or family nearby,” he said. “A change of environment makes a difference.”