Louisiana Revised Statutes Tit. 40, § 2012.3. Transportation of indigent patients to hospital; expenses

A. Upon being shown the certificate of the superintendent of the hospital entitling an indigent tuberculosis patient to admission to a state-owned tuberculosis hospital, the parish sheriff shall arrange for the transportation of the patient to such hospital.

B. The sheriff may collect from the parish five cents per mile for the distance the patient is transported from the parish to the hospital designated. Where more than one patient is transported at a time, the sheriff shall receive five cents per mile for each patient transported. This five cents per mile shall be made to cover any means of transportation, sleeping accommodations, and sustenance of patients during their transportation. In addition to these amounts, the sheriff may collect for his own expenses an additional five cents per mile for each mile traveled in transporting the patient or patients to the hospital and in returning. The sheriff shall take the most direct route possible in going to and returning from the hospital. If any parish fails or refuses to pay the transportation charges to any sheriff justly entitled to them, the sheriff may proceed by summary writ of mandamus in the district court, without cost, against the governing authority of the parish to enforce payment.