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Mayor-President Sid Edwards speaks after the election results were finalized, with city council members Laurie Adams, Carolyn Coleman, Jen Racca, Aaron Moak and Central Mayor Wade Evans behind him, left to right, during the election party for the Thrive proposals at Lamar Advertising on Saturday, November 15, 2025.

The fallout from East Baton Rouge Parish votersโ€™ rejection of the Thrive EBR plan was always going to be ugly.

And almost as soon as the votes were tallied, Mayor-President Sid Edwards was forced to begin laying off hundreds of folks within city-parish government and notifying departments that steep cuts are expected.

Two that will bear the brunt of the city-parish shortfall are the district attorney and public defender offices. The twin advocacy pillars of the criminal justice system both receive a significant share of their annual revenue from the city-parishโ€™s general fund, which is now expected to have far less revenue than is required

Those cuts will hit hard. Chief Public Defender Kyla Romanach, whose office handles more than 8 in every 10 criminal cases in East Baton Rouge, said she will have to consider laying off attorneys.

"Lawyers can only work so many cases," she said.

Edwards has said the district attorney can expect an 11% cut in what it receives from the city-parish, while the public defender can expect a 22% cut. Both also get some funding from the state.

The cuts will compound problems District Attorney Hillar Moore has with retaining competent staff, especially after voters soundly rejected his proposal for a new dedicated property tax earlier this year.

That means that the East Baton Rouge Parish court system, already plagued by delays and one of the slowest in the state, will likely get even slower. And as we have noted before, such delays do not serve the victims of crime nor their families. They also make lives tougher for the accused.

Edwards has said that the only two departments that wonโ€™t be cut are the police and fire, and thatโ€™s to be applauded. East Baton Rouge residents deserve fully funded and functioning police and fire protection.

But it canโ€™t stop there. Those same residents also deserve fair and devoted advocates in court, and the cuts will make that tougher to provide.

It would be unwise to blame Edwards alone for this problem. He inherited a thorny financial situation greatly complicated by the formation of the city of St. George.

The severity of the problem was central to his push for Thrive. But voters didnโ€™t buy it and rejected all three of the proposals that made up the plan.

Now Edwards is trying to manage the fallout.

The budget has not yet been passed by the Metro Council, which could make adjustments that would affect these departments. Moore has said he is considering going to court to prevent the cuts from taking effect.

This is clearly far from ideal. The citizens of East Baton Rouge Parish โ€” the same ones who rejected Thrive and Mooreโ€™s dedicated tax โ€” must take a hard look at what they expect from their government and how they would like it to be funded.

The next months will not be easy. A weakened district attorney and public defender wonโ€™t make it better.

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