LIVINGSTON, LA - Construction of a bigger jail in Livingston Parish is still two months away.

But in the meantime, the number of prisoners housed outside the parish has increased four-fold and the cost of paying for their accommodations has skyrocketed, parish officials said.

In April, the parish paid 74-thousand dollars for upkeep of prisoners held in facilities outside Livingston Parish. That is the lions share of 106-thousand-767 dollars the parish council has to spend for maintaining all of the parish's prisoners.

Once construction on the new jail begins, architect Gerald Hebert says it will take about 20 months to complete.

Last week, the parish jail held 163 prisoners, and the parish council was paying to keep another 146 prisoners in outside jails. Jim Brown, warden of the parish jail, says the jail is only designed to hold a maximum of 154 prisoners.