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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – It’s a jail fight of a different type.

Millions of dollars are at stake and the future home of thousands of Louisiana inmates is in question as Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s office beat each other up with words and accusations.

A court decree says prisoners must be moved into the new jail by September 15, or inmates would need to be sent out of New Orleans at the city’s expense.

But should the new jail be reserved for Orleans Parish prisoners, or should it take in hundreds of inmates from all over the state?

The Mayor’s Office says it costs $60,000 a day, which is nearly $2 million a month, to house out-of-parish prisoners.

“Why would you ever do that? That’s fiscal insanity. Move those state prisoners out of our jail!” says First Deputy Mayor Andy Kopplin.

Kopplin brings up many issues regarding inmates housed in New Orleans, but there’s one that echoed from the city hall steps Tuesday.

He’s urging taxpayers to ask the Sheriff this: “Why does he insist on doing Bobby Jindal’s job for him at your expense? That’s the question.”

We tried to get an on-camera response to that question and several others.

All we got was a written statement full of fighting words, from James Williams, attorney for the OPSO.

It says the city lacks “leadership, responsibility, or even a basic understanding of how the criminal justice system works.”

Kopplin says housing state prisoners costs the city about $75 a day per inmate.

“We believe it’s about $9.2 million worth of subsidy to the state every year coming out of the pockets of New Orleans taxpayers. We just don’t think that’s good use of your money,” says Kopplin.

The sheriff’s attorney says OPSO currently bills for 317 state inmates, some of whom are awaiting transfer, others who are awaiting trial in the city, and so their housing and care is something “the City of New Orleans is legally responsible for.”

The mayor’s office has a different number in mind for justified state inmates; Kopplin said probably 30 or 40 are in the Orleans Parish Prison for a valid reason, but he adds, “They don’t have to be here 365 days a year; they don’t have to be here 18 months before their trial.”

The attorney’s statement also says the sheriff is “at the finish line” with the new facility and that Tuesday’s press conference was just another stall tactic.

Another inspection of the new jail is scheduled for Wednesday morning.