BATON ROUGE - In a report released Monday morning from the Legislative Auditor's Office, officials said the 19th Judicial District Attorney's Office continued to "have significant funding issues" and that to address the issues, the office would likely cut crime prevention efforts. 

Auditors said in fiscal 2024, expenditures for the office outweighed revenue by approximately $1 million. 

To make up for the shortfall, the DA's office has depleted the office's reserve fund and is now working on a plan to reduce costs and advocate for increased funding, the report said. 

The auditor said the likely course of action for the DA's office would be to cut the number of assistant district attorneys and the number of community-based crime intervention and prevention programs, but there was no immediate plan to do so. 

In May, the parish rejected a property tax that would have funded the DA's office.

"We cannot get any better, and keep up with technology and clear the backlog, unless we have additional staff. We’re going to keep grinding as best as we can," District Attorney Hillar Moore said after the tax failed. "But we are still drowning in cases, we need help."