(KLFY) -- A draft report not yet released by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor says the decision by Josh Guillory administration to secretly remove spoil banks in St. Martin Parish in February 2022 was against local, state and federal law, according to a report by The Current.

The outlet reported the LLA confirmed that it is finalizing the report, which does not yet have a release date, and that the report will be forwarded to state and federal prosecutors. 

Lafayette Consolidated Government removed spoil banks along the Vermilion River without the knowledge or consent of St. Martin Parish Government, which led to a lawsuit by LCG in advance of a threatened suit by St. Martin Parish against LCG.

The dirt levees had lined the river for years. At the time, Guillory said it would ease flooding in both parishes, but St. Martin Parish then-President Chester Cedars said it could make flooding worse in areas of St. Martin Parish.

The Current reported the overnight removal cost $3.7 million and was authorized through a change order on a $360,000 “as-needed” excavation contract. Both the LLA and LCG’s own auditors concluded the project should have gone out for public bid due to the change in scope and cost.

LCG’s 2023 audit, from independent firm Kolder, Slaven & Company, reported two dozen widespread deficiencies that led to overpayment, bad bidding practices and poor internal control over LCG’s spending. 

In his response, Guillory lambasted the LLA as a political weapon.

“For three-and-a-half years, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor has reviewed this project, only to reemerge with the very same tired talking-points its political patrons trotted out in 2022 and 2023 and is now being repackaged as a sort of ‘exit memo’ that reeks of lawfare, not oversight,” Guillory wrote.

According to The Current, the LLA’s 2025 draft document agrees with previous audits in saying the project violated state law, federal law, a St. Martin Parish ordinance and Lafayette’s Home Rule Charter. 

In the draft report, LLA investigators said the Guillory administration treated the “risk of litigation and payout as a cost of doing business,” the outlet reported.

Guillory, now a radio host on conservative talk station KPEL, accused the LLA of “political prostitution” and defended the controversial project. 

The draft reported by The Current, which is subject to change before being released, stated that LCG’s resolve to move ahead with the project despite legal risks, along with its decision to overpay for the land where the spoil banks were originally located, “underscores deficiencies in public accountability, legal judgment, and financial stewardship.”

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