A 23-year-old sheriff's deputy recruit who worked inside the New Orleans jail was booked into Orleans Justice Center shortly after midnight Tuesday on charges of malfeasance in office, criminal conspiracy and introducing contraband into a prison. Shion Scott, of Marrero, is now the second Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office employee arrested this month, a fact that has renewed scrutiny of internal security at a facility already under years of federal oversight.
According to NOLA.com, jail records show Scott was booked into Orleans Justice Center on the charges, which the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed. Investigators with the sheriff's office spent several months gathering intelligence and weeks conducting additional investigative work on contraband smuggling before developing probable cause to arrest Scott, according to WWL-TV. Scott's bond was expected to be set at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.
A Second Arrest In Less Than Two Weeks
Scott's arrest comes just over a week after another OPSO employee, 47-year-old Ronald Baptiste, was arrested on July 31 following a 911 call from a 19-year-old woman who said she believed she was about to be sex trafficked. Per the sheriff's office, Baptiste faces counts of possession of cocaine, simple battery, false imprisonment and purchasing alcohol for a person under 21.
The New Orleans Police Department reported the allegations against Baptiste, which stem from claims that he picked up the woman and her 18-year-old boyfriend after promising to take them to a snowball stand, according to NOPD. Instead, per NOPD, he allegedly drove them to other locations and offered them drugs while holding them against their will. Baptiste's bond was set at $35,000, the outlet notes.
New Sheriff's Push Against Contraband
Both arrests land squarely within Sheriff Michelle Woodfork's broader campaign to root out contraband and security lapses at Orleans Justice Center since she took office in May 2026. Woodfork, who was elected in October 2025 with 53% of the vote after more than 33 years with the New Orleans Police Department — including a stint as the department's first female interim superintendent starting in December 2022 — signed an executive order on May 4 creating the OPSO Security and Accountability Council, an independent advisory body tasked with auditing security blind spots and structural deficiencies at parish facilities, per WWL-TV.
Just after taking office, Woodfork led a joint sweep with the Louisiana Department of Corrections at Orleans Justice Center that turned up more than 50 bags of contraband, including suspected narcotics and weapons, as Hoodline previously reported. Scott's arrest was announced the same day Woodfork was scheduled to deliver a 100-day update on her administration at 1 p.m., per NOLA.com.
Legal Exposure Under Louisiana Law
If convicted, Scott faces significant statutory penalties. Malfeasance in office under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:134 is a felony carrying up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, following a 2024 amendment by the Louisiana Legislature that raised the maximum prison term from five years, according to BillTrack50. Separately, introducing contraband into a correctional facility under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:402 carries a fine between $500 and $10,000 and up to 10 years of imprisonment with or without hard labor, with additional narcotics penalties possible if controlled substances are involved, per FindLaw.
A Jail Still Under Federal Watch
The arrests arrive as Orleans Justice Center remains under a federal consent decree first imposed in 2013 over chronic staffing shortages, physical facility defects and safety deficiencies. The jail currently houses more than 1,400 pretrial inmates, as Hoodline reported just days ago in coverage of a foiled escape attempt at the facility.
That heightened scrutiny traces back to the May 2025 escape of 10 inmates from Orleans Justice Center, who cut a hole behind a toilet in an unmonitored cell pod and went undetected for seven hours because of broken locking mechanisms and absent supervision, per Hoodline's reporting. Former Sheriff Susan Hutson, Woodfork's predecessor, was indicted in April 2026 on allegations of malfeasance connected to that jailbreak, along with her former chief financial officer, following an investigation led by a special state grand jury under the Louisiana Attorney General's office.
OPSO Chief Administrative Officer Keith Lampkin has not offered public comment specific to Scott's case in the available reporting. It remains unclear what specific contraband items Scott allegedly brought into the facility or whether he was working with incarcerated individuals or outside accomplices — details that have not yet been made public.
