By Tiffany Flournoy
Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing independent reporting series that started in late 2025 examining municipal operations, public accountability and transparency in the Town of Cullen. The reporting and original work in this series were independently produced.
CULLEN, La. — A town of fewer than 800 residents is facing a severe fiscal emergency, with more than $332,000 in confirmed financial obligations, an estimated $406,000 in total liabilities and less than $10,000 in unrestricted cash, according to state officials.
Now, Louisiana is asking a court to intervene.
Attorney General Liz Murrill, acting on behalf of the state, filed a joint motion Oct. 2, 2026, with the Town of Cullen seeking court approval to appoint an independent fiscal administrator to take control of the municipality’s financial affairs.
The filing follows a Sept. 2 determination by the state’s Fiscal Review Committee — composed of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, attorney general and state treasurer — that Cullen is in a state of severe fiscal emergency.
The state’s action is the latest development in a financial crisis that has been unfolding in Cullen for more than a year, with mounting debt, missing financial audits and financial problems increasingly affecting basic municipal operations.
Cullen’s financial picture
Testimony before the Fiscal Review Committee last month from Judith Detweiller, director of Local Government Services, and Michael Battle, advisory services senior manager with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office, outlined Cullen’s financial condition.
The town had $332,017.60 in confirmed outstanding payables and obligations, while total liabilities were estimated at approximately $406,000.
As of May 31, Cullen had only $9,296.42 in unrestricted cash available to meet those obligations.
Among the confirmed debts were $132,451.59 owed to the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid payroll taxes dating from the fourth quarter of 2016 through the first quarter of 2025, and $35,598.60 owed to the Louisiana Municipal Police Employees Retirement System.
The town also owes more than $6,100 to Hawkins, a vendor that supplies chlorine for Cullen’s water treatment system.
The financial strain has reached the town’s water system.
During a September Town Council meeting, officials disclosed that the town did not have funds on hand to purchase new chlorine cylinders. Cullen has also remained under multiple, ongoing boil-water advisories.
Chlorine is a critical part of municipal water treatment. It disinfects drinking water and helps maintain protection as treated water moves through the distribution system.
Cullen also has failed to submit required annual financial audits for fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to the state. Its most recent submitted audit was for fiscal year 2022.
That audit showed a $27,227 excess in the General Fund, while the town’s enterprise funds reported an operating loss of $471,773.
The town has consented to the state’s intervention.
On Aug. 17, the Town Council unanimously approved Resolution No. 504, authorizing town attorney Joshua S. Chevallier of Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea LLC to consent to state intervention.
The Oct. 2 joint motion asks the court to appoint Achilles D. Williams, CPA, as Cullen’s independent fiscal administrator under.
If appointed, Williams would assume the authority, powers and duties provided by law to oversee the town’s fiscal affairs and address its financial condition. The costs of the fiscal administration would be borne by the town.
The state argues that Cullen’s inability to meet its financial obligations threatens its ability to pay operating expenses and maintain basic governmental services, creating a risk of irreparable harm to the health, safety and welfare of its residents.
According to the motion, under state law the court is required to appoint a fiscal administrator within 20 days of the filing of the joint motion and consent judgment.
The appointment would place an outside administrator over the finances of a municipality whose fiscal problems have extended beyond its books — reaching its water system, regulatory compliance and ability to meet basic governmental obligations.
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