The controversy over funding for the Baton Rouge city constable’s office offers yet another example of how such offices can become bloated, consume public dollars inefficiently, and drift from their intended functions.

Recently, the Metropolitan Council passed the city-parish’s 2026 budget that bit the bullet. In the wake of the failure of amendments to the consolidated government’s plan of government that reconfigured revenue streams to ease a cash crunch. Republican Mayor-President Sid Edwards declared there must be cuts across the board except for public safety, chopping 11 percent from most, although he more than doubled that for his own office. Caught up in those cuts was more than $400,000 from the city constable’s office budget, about two-thirds of which is funded by the city-parish general fund that foots the salaries of 48 deputy constables. The remainder comes from a small state contribution and self-generated revenues authorized by law, leaving total budgeted revenues for the year at roughly $3.4 million.

Democrat Constable Terrica Williams – whose position is established as a separately elected office under the plan – objected to the cut, requesting that nearly $500,000 be restored to fund six positions she says are needed to provide security for court proceedings. Under statute, constables are responsible for providing security for their associated courts, in this case Baton Rouge City Court. For the past several years, the city reimbursed those costs. However, facing budget constraints, Edwards and the Council declined to do so this time. This has left Williams scrambling to fulfill that function in 2026, and presently her office and the city are trying to work something out.

Yet Williams can help out by pulling back some of the more extraneous functions that her office has acquired over the years. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence with constables, or marshals, as they are termed mainly in larger municipalities, statewide. Perhaps to justify the large reimbursements they receive from local governments – and their salaries (Williams’ salary is $135,000 annually, with an escalator clause) – these officials often build agencies that mimic larger, coterminous police departments or sheriff’s offices, rather than focusing on the revenue-generating duties authorized under state law and by the courts. Those duties can be performed by other law enforcement agencies, yet constables instead come to rely on local tax revenues to help fund functions that are already being carried out elsewhere.

For example, the agency sponsors a number of community events for youth and seniors. These include operating the DARE anti-drug education program—previously grant-funded but now shifted onto Baton Rouge taxpayers – and hosting a Christmas toy giveaway. In fact, the agency’s budget documentation commits it to conducting a specified number of such events each year, a figure that is set to increase.

But in the meantime, its own revenue generation has declined. In 2014 – despite having fewer deputies and a city population that has remained flat – self-generated revenues totaled just under $1 million. By contrast, they are projected at only $865,000 in 2026, a figure that may be optimistic given that revenues in 2024 came in at roughly $550,000. Notably, budget metrics for activities involving bench warrants increase sharply from 2024 actuals, suggesting a renewed emphasis on statutory duties.

Of course, the best solution would be to eliminate the constable’s office altogether and have the police assume its functions, which they could likely perform with fewer personnel and at lower cost. Politically, that outcome is unlikely, so the next-best option is for the constable to cut back duplicative or superfluous activities and save money that way, while devoting more resources toward revenue collection and the activities associated with it.

It’s all hands on deck for Baton Rouge to rein in overspending and misspending – much of it a consequence of having taken the now-detached St. George area for granted – that has led to this round of belt-tightening. The constable’s office needs to do its part as well by getting back to basics.