The agreement that put a private company in charge of England Airpark’s ICE detention facility required that company to give the public authority proof of insurance promptly after the lease took effect July 1. The England Authority has not produced that proof, and the facility is scheduled to open Sept. 30.
Section 2.14.5 of the operating agreement, a cooperative endeavor agreement between the Authority and the company, says The LaSalle Family Foundation, LLC “shall deliver to the EEIDD promptly following the Commencement Date the insurers’ or coverage providers’ certificates evidencing all insurance or coverage required to be maintained.” EEIDD is the England Economic and Industrial Development District, the public body that operates England Airpark. Section 2.3.1 sets the Commencement Date at midnight on July 1, 2026. That was 84 days ago.
A certificate of insurance is the document an insurer issues to show a policy exists, who it covers and what it pays. Without one, the public record shows a contract that requires coverage and nothing showing a carrier agreed to provide it.
The Authority carries the federal contract for the facility. If a detainee or an employee sues over something that happens there, the insurance behind the operation is what determines who pays.
What the coverage is supposed to be#
Exhibit G of the operating agreement sets the minimums. Commercial general liability at $3 million per occurrence and $5 million aggregate. Professional and medical liability at the same limits. Automobile liability at $1 million. Employer’s liability at $3 million. Workers’ compensation at Louisiana statutory limits. An umbrella policy of at least $5 million.
The exhibit also requires the liability coverage to be endorsed for claims arising from “a residential, detention, staging, housing, or similar custodial care facility.” It lists civil-rights violations, punitive damages where insurable by law, sexual abuse or molestation, negligent hiring, training, retention or supervision, medical denial or delayed medical care, and deliberate indifference. Some of that is required only “to the extent commercially available.”
One required coverage has no number. Section 2.14.1.4 requires Law Enforcement Liability insurance “in an amount of not less than that reflected in Exhibit ‘G.’” Exhibit G’s table lists six coverages and Law Enforcement Liability is not among them. At a detention facility, that is the policy that typically answers claims over use of force and conditions of confinement. The agreement requires it and sets no minimum.
Exhibit G has a second problem. It opens by saying “Subcontractor shall maintain” the coverage, and it makes the policies subject to approval by “Contractor.” Neither term is defined anywhere in the agreement’s 52-page body, and neither party appears in the deal the agreement describes. The body uses “subcontractor” only in lowercase, for vendors LaSalle may hire.
Exhibit G’s closing sentence shows what it was drafted for. It says “Contractor, The LaSalle Family Foundation, EEIDD, and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and representatives shall be named as additional insureds.” LaSalle appears there as a beneficiary of the coverage, not as the “Subcontractor” that owes it. The same paragraph makes the policies primary and non-contributory as to “Contractor” alone and provides nothing equivalent for EEIDD.
The main body assigns the duty by name. Section 2.14.1 puts it on LaSalle Family Foundation, and Section 2.14.5 requires the policies to name EEIDD as an additional insured.
“Aware” is the only public answer#
Kingfish asked Executive Director Ralph Hennessy whether the Authority had notified its insurer, broker or risk adviser that EEIDD was becoming the federal contractor responsible to ICE, and whether the Authority had confirmation that its existing coverage applied to operational failures, sexual-abuse claims, medical incidents, staffing violations, federal penalties and repayment demands.
His Aug. 26 response said the Authority’s insurance provider “is aware” of the operation and of the operating agreement’s indemnification provisions. He did not say when the carrier was notified or that it confirmed coverage. His answer identified no policy that would pay a claim arising from the facility.
A commissioner told Kingfish that Hennessy said the Authority’s own insurance does not cover operation of a detention center, and that the limits LaSalle carries are the Authority’s only protection. Kingfish has not obtained the email containing that exchange and has not confirmed the account with a second commissioner.
Indemnity and insurance are different promises. Indemnity is the operator’s agreement to cover the Authority’s losses. Insurance is a carrier’s agreement to pay covered claims up to a limit. An indemnity is worth what the company behind it can pay.
The company behind the promise#
The operating agreement places the indemnity obligation on The LaSalle Family Foundation, LLC, a Delaware company formed July 24. Delaware’s public record does not name its members, and the agreement’s tax-identification field is blank. The documents reviewed by Kingfish do not disclose its assets.
A similarly named Louisiana nonprofit is a separate legal person. A Louisiana Secretary of State filing shows The LaSalle Family Foundation changed its name to Bastille Outreach on Aug. 19. William K. McConnell is its registered agent and an officer, and Ryan Horvath is its president. The operating agreement names the Delaware LLC, not Bastille Outreach.
The Authority wrote itself remedies. No record shows it using them#
The agreement does not leave EEIDD waiting. Section 2.14.9 requires any insurer to give the Authority 30 days’ written notice before canceling or reducing coverage. Section 2.14.10 says that if coverage is canceled or not renewed, LaSalle must furnish a replacement certificate at least 15 days before that date, and that if it fails to do so, the Authority may buy the insurance itself at LaSalle’s expense or pay for it out of LaSalle’s security deposit.
No public Authority record reviewed by Kingfish shows the Authority demanding the certificates, invoking those provisions or reporting to its board on the status of coverage.
Before Sept. 30#
KALB reported Sept. 22 that the facility was in its final construction stages and “set to open any day now.” Sources familiar with the schedule have told Kingfish the opening date is Sept. 30.
The Authority can settle the question by producing what its own contract already entitles it to hold: the certificates, the declarations pages and the additional-insured endorsements. Those records would name the carrier, the limits in force and any exclusion that applies to detention operations.
