How much does ICE detention at Angola (‘Louisiana Lockup’) cost?

Published on September 4, 2025 | Prices Last Reviewed for Freshness: January 2026
Written by Alec Pow - Economic & Pricing Investigator | Content Reviewed by CFA Alexander Popinker

Educational content; not financial advice. Prices are estimates; confirm current rates, fees, taxes, and terms with providers or official sources.

ICE detention at Louisiana’s Angola prison runs about $150/day per detainee, roughly double the state’s own prison costs, and nearly 25× the cost of community supervision. Louisiana itself spends $63–$184 per day to incarcerate people, with Angola averaging $113.

• ICE detention at Angola (Camp 57) runs on federal budgets at ~$150/day, versus $5–$8/day for Alternatives to Detention (ATD).
• Louisiana state prison costs range from $63–$184/day, with Angola at $113/day.
• Community supervision in Louisiana averages $6.16/day ($2,249/year), making it the cheapest alternative to custody.

One month at Angola ≈ $3,399. One month on supervision ≈ $185.

Article Highlights

• A day at Angola costs the state about $113.30, while the women’s prison, LCIW, runs near $184.39 per person per day.
• ICE detention at Angola’s new Camp 57 runs about $150/day per person, far higher than the $6.16/day Louisiana spends on supervision, and roughly 25× the parish jail rate ($26.39/day).
• Louisiana pays parishes $26.39/day to house state offenders locally and spends $6.16/day on probation or parole.
• One year on supervision costs roughly $2,249 publicly, versus $41,000+ for a prison year at Angola.
• Commercial bail premiums are 12% by law, so $10,000 bail means $1,200 out-of-pocket, plus small fees.
• New FCC caps hold prison and jail calls to $0.06/minute, lowering family expenses during a case.

How much does incarceration cost in Louisiana?

*Year = 365 days.
Sources: Louisiana FY25–FY26 fiscal briefs (House Fiscal Division; Senate Fiscal Services). All totals are government spend, not fines/fees families pay.

Quick math notes

• Six months = 180 days; one year = 365 days.
• Angola 6 months: 113.30 × 180 = $20,394.
• Angola 1 year: 113.30 × 365 = $41,355.
• Supervision 1 year: 6.16 × 365 = $2,249.
• Parish 1 year: 26.39 × 365 = $9,632.

How much does ICE detention at Angola cost (vs. alternatives)?

ICE opened a civil immigration detention unit inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary complex (“Camp 57/‘Louisiana Lockup’”) in 2025. Local reporting from the opening tour documented 51 detainees initially, with officials saying the site could eventually hold hundreds.

ICE detention at Angola is governed by the agency’s Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS 2011, rev. 2016), covering medical care, legal access, housing, and segregation—rather than Louisiana DOC prison rules.

What a detention day costs (national). Congress’ nonpartisan analysts have repeatedly put ICE’s average detention cost in the ~$150/day range, while Alternatives to Detention (ATD/ISAP), electronic monitoring + case management in the community, run in the single-digits per day. (Think: ~$5–$8/day for ATD vs. >$150/day for detention.)

For a deeper look at the other side of the ledger, see our breakdown of the cost to deport an immigrant (transport, custody days in transit, and removal logistics).

Illustrative math at national averages (federal spend):

• 200 people detained at ~$150/day ≈ $30,000/day → $10.9M/year (365 days).
• 400 people detained at ~$150/day ≈ $60,000/day → $21.9M/year.
• 200 people on ATD at ~$7/day ≈ $1,400/day → $0.51M/year.
  These are federal costs (ICE), separate from Louisiana’s DOC per-prisoner figures in your main table. They’re here to show scale if courts/ICE choose detention over community monitoring.

Access + duration matter. Detaining people far from immigration attorneys can increase continuances and length of stay, which multiplies per-diem spend. Multiple investigations and oversight reviews have flagged access-to-counsel constraints at remote facilities—one reason policy analysts track where ICE opens beds.

Phone cost note. The FCC adopted 2024 caps for incarcerated calling (e.g., $0.06/min for prisons), but implementation has been delayed, and many facilities haven’t reached the cap yet—so family phone spend varies by site.

Capacity & headcounts

• Angola (Louisiana State Penitentiary): 3,926 incarcerated vs 3,990 capacity — 98.3% full (DOC figures cited in local coverage).
• Women’s prison (LCIW): New 958-bed complex opened in St. Gabriel in Sept. 2025.
  Prior snapshot (Sept. 2024): 443 incarcerated vs 482 capacity (91% full).
• ICE unit at Angola (Camp 57): 416 beds; 51 detainees reported shortly after opening.

Sources: DOC capacity/headcount snapshots (Angola/LCIW), ICE unit disclosures reported locally; FY25–FY26 fiscal briefs for per-day figures.

Capacity math

Angola (3,990 beds @ $113.30/day)

• If full: $452,067/day → $13,562,010/30 days → $165,004,455/year
• Current headcount (3,926): $444,816/day → $162,357,767/year
• Every +1% occupancy (~40 people): +$4,521/day → +$1,650,046/year
• Per 100 people: $11,330/day → $339,900/30 days → $4,135,450/year

Translation: Full Angola ≈ $165M/year (≈ $452k/day, ≈ $13.6M/30 days). Current headcount ≈ $162M/year. Every +1% filled (≈40 people) adds ≈ $1.65M/year; every +100 people adds ≈ $4.14M/year (≈ $11.3k/day).

These headcounts show how a $113.30 daily rate scales from one person to a nearly full 3,990-bed prison.

Capacity math for ICE

• 416 beds × $150/day ≈ $62,400/day → $22.8M/year (if full).
• Current headcount (51 detainees) ≈ $7,650/day → $2.8M/year.

If facility price tags interest you, we also analyzed a conceptual “mega-custody” build: Alligator Alcatraz prison, a thought experiment that shows how design choices explode operating budgets.

LCIW (women’s prison, 958 beds @ $184.39/day)

• If full: $176,646/day → $5,299,369/30 days → $64,475,651/year

Parish jail comparison (416 beds @ $26.39 state per-diem)

• If full: $10,978/day → $329,347/30 days → $4,007,058/year
• Per 100 people: $2,639/day → $79,170/30 days → $963,235/year

The Louisiana House Fiscal Division’s FY26 budget packet lists total cost per offender per day by facility. Angola, the state’s largest prison, comes in around $113.30. Raymond Laborde Correctional Center is $63.49, while the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women is a high outlier at $184.39. Several other state prisons range from roughly $64 to $97 per day. These amounts include custody, health care, and operations.

Community supervision is an order of magnitude cheaper. The Senate Fiscal Services FY25 summary shows probation and parole running $6.16 per day per person, or about $183 per month. The same packet pegs the state’s per-diem Louisiana pays local jails to house state offenders at $26.39. Those are base rates, not family-facing add-ons.

For context, national reporting places the median state prison spend at $64,865 per prisoner per year in 2021, far above Louisiana’s average due largely to other states’ higher wages and health costs. Comparing across states is apples to oranges, but it helps frame the debate when legislators cite national medians.

Real-life Cost Examples

Case A, 30 days in a parish jail pretrial, Orleans Parish. A defendant with $10,000 bail purchases a commercial bond at Louisiana’s regulated 12% premium, paying $1,200 to a bondsman, plus a $25 administrative policy fee and a $30 jail fee collected at release. If the case resolves in a month and the person averages 200 minutes of phone calls to arrange work and childcare, new federal caps set in 2024 hold those calls to about $12 total. Family outlay: roughly $1,267 before court fines or counsel.

Case B, 180 days at Angola post-sentence. The government’s cost is straightforward math using the state’s per-day figure: $113.30 × 180 = $20,394. That excludes any extraordinary off-site medical episodes that can push the total higher, but it captures the core custody bill paid by taxpayers for half a year in custody at the state’s flagship prison.

Case C, one year on supervision instead of prison, Rapides Parish. Probation at $6.16/day lands near $2,249 for 365 days. Some supervisees also pay monthly fees set by statute and local practice, commonly $60–$110 per month, which shifts part of the cost from the state to the person on supervision. Even at the high end, the combined public plus private outlay is still far below a year in prison.

Case D, 180 days in ICE custody at $150/day costs the federal government $27,000, versus $1,080 for the same period under ATD.

These examples show a pattern. Time drives the bill. Cheaper settings multiply savings.

Cost Breakdown

Custody bed rate. In prison, the “per-offender per day” line in budget books bundles staff, food, utilities, facility maintenance, and in-house clinical services. Variance by site is large. Angola’s $113.30 reflects economies of scale. LCIW’s $184.39 reflects a smaller population, specialized services, and a complex plant. A half-dozen other prisons cluster in the mid-$60s to mid-$90s.

Local housing and transport. When the state places an offender in a parish facility, it pays the local per-diem (Per-diem varies by session; FY24–FY25 analyses use $26.39; FY26 budget actions reference $25.39 and a $2 increase), and then layers transport and classification costs on top during transfers. The per-diem is clear in the Senate brief. Transport varies with distance and frequency and is usually embedded in agency operations budgets, not itemized by person.

Community supervision. The state’s average is $6.16/day for probation or parole, with a monthly public spend near $183. The public cost covers officers, offices, and electronic systems. The private cost often includes supervision fees to the person, which are set in statute and local policy.

Bail and pretrial expenses. Louisiana sets a 12% commercial bail premium by law. Many parishes add small per-bond fees. A standard $25 policy fee and a $30 jail release fee are common examples cited by agencies and bond firms. These are out-of-pocket costs borne by families, regardless of outcome.

Hidden costs, often missed in hearings. The FCC adopted a $0.06/min cap for prisons (higher caps for smaller jails), but enforcement is delayed, so many facilities haven’t hit those rates yet; commissary markups still bite family budgets; and supervision fees range roughly $60–$110 per month in many jurisdictions, with parole fees capped lower by statute. The hidden column rarely shows up in state spreadsheets, but it shows up on bank statements.

Factors that swing the final bill

Facility mix and security level. Put simply, where a person is held matters. A year at LCIW could land well above $67,000 using the posted per-day figure, while a year at Angola prices near $41,000. Specialized units, medical wings, and restrictive housing increase costs, while dorm housing reduces them.

Length of stay. Days drive dollars. The same per-day rate multiplied by 30, 90, or 365 creates vastly different totals. Overruns occur when hearings slip or when movement across facilities triggers more transport and classification work. Supervision shows the same math, only at much lower daily rates.

Staffing and overtime. Corrections budgets are people-heavy. Vacancies force overtime and hazard pay, which pushes per-day numbers higher until hiring stabilizes. Louisiana’s recent budget materials highlight staffing pressure across facilities, a trend consistent with corrections nationwide.

Health care and aging. Chronic disease, specialty meds, and hospitalizations are cost multipliers. Although the per-day lines include standard clinic care, off-site care and guarded hospital stays can swing a case’s true cost by thousands, even over a short sentence. Louisiana’s fiscal packets flag health services as a notable share of facility budgets.

Policy shifts. Sentencing changes that prolong average stays or widen admissions swell totals even if per-day costs stay flat. Analysts in Louisiana have modeled population growth scenarios that, if realized, imply large multi-year increases to corrections spend. Time policies drive money outcomes. For scale against high-visibility policy ideas, here’s what it would take to paint the U.S.–Mexico border wall black, a striking example of how symbolic choices still carry hefty line items.

Savings from Shifting Eligible Cases to Supervision

Every 1,000 eligible people shifted from Angola to supervision for one year saves ≈ $39.1M (≈ $39,106 per person).

Why it matters :
Those savings don’t assert policy; they show scale. Supervision runs about $6.16/day (≈ $2,249/year) versus Angola’s $113.30/day (≈ $41,355/year). When time in custody is replaced with time under supervision for appropriate profiles, days become dollars.

At-a-glance scenarios:

• 1 year, 1,000 people: $41,355 − $2,249 = $39,106 saved per person → $39,106,000 total.
• 6 months, 500 people: $20,394 − $1,109 = $19,285 saved per person → $9,642,600 total.
• 90 days, 250 people: $10,197 − $554 = $9,643 saved per person → $2,410,650 total.

Context table (not a calculator):

(Eligibility is policy/judge-dependent; savings reflect public spend only.)

A warehouse supervisor in Baton Rouge posts a $10,000 bond for his brother: $1,200 premium, $25 policy fee, $30 jail fee—money gone even if the case is dismissed. During 30 days pretrial he makes 200 minutes of calls (≈ $12 under new FCC caps) to line up childcare and shifts. The state doesn’t book those costs, but families do.

Booking, bail, bond, and the family bill

A $10,000 bail means an immediate $1,200 premium, non-refundable, often in the very first week.

Arrest starts the meter before a sentence. Commercial bail premiums in Louisiana are set by statute at 12% of the face amount, with a floor of $120. A $10,000 bail produces a $1,200 premium that is not refundable at case end. Many parishes allow a $25 policy fee and charge a $30 jail fee upon release. Add a few hundred dollars for early attorney consults and records copying. Families often cover it all, sometimes in the very first week.

Phone rules have improved. The FCC’s 2024 rule caps in-state and interstate calls from correctional facilities at $0.06/minute, which cuts monthly costs for people who need frequent contact with family, employers, or counsel. That one change lowers the invisible column of costs that do not appear in state appropriations but do appear on household budgets.

Court-ordered fines and fees still stack. Supervision fees, restitution, and program fees can total hundreds over a year. Statutes set ranges and caps, and many judges tailor orders to ability to pay, but the cumulative effect is felt by the same households already paying premiums and gas for jail visits.

Example recap.

• Parish jail pretrial, $10,000 bail: family pays about $1,267 in premium and small fees, plus whatever counsel costs arise.
• Six months at Angola: taxpayers fund roughly $20,394, excluding rare off-site medical events.
• One year probation: public cost near $2,249, with potential $60–$110/month in supervisee fees depending on orders.

Answers to Common Questions

How is “per-offender per day” calculated in the budget?

It is the total facility operations cost divided by average daily population, reported annually by the state’s fiscal offices. It includes staff, utilities, food, maintenance, and standard health services.

Why do women’s facility costs look higher?

LCIW serves a smaller population with specialized services and an aging physical plant, which raises per-person averages compared with the very large Angola complex.

Is probation really that much cheaper?

Yes. The Senate’s FY25 brief lists $6.16/day, which is roughly $183/month, and the cost scales linearly with time on supervision. People may also pay supervision fees set in statute.

Do families get bail premiums back?

No. The 12% premium is the price of the bond, not a deposit. Some parishes add modest policy and jail release fees.

How do phone costs look after 2024?

The FCC capped correctional calls at $0.06/minute nationwide, which sharply reduces typical monthly phone spend for incarcerated people and families.

Notes on style and math. A single decision can swing costs by tens of thousands. One more month in custody at Angola is roughly $3,399, while a month on supervision is about $183, and this is why budget committees argue, because the stakes are large and the tradeoffs are real even when line items look small on paper.

What to watch next. Facility staffing and health-care contracts, plus any sentencing policy shifts that extend average stays. Those three drivers move the totals the most.

Published with figures current for budget materials spanning FY25–FY26.