• Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas

  • Jan 11 2025
  • Length: 47 mins
  • Podcast

Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas

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  • Summary

  • Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas joined Discover Lafayette to discuss his mission to protect the citizens of Lafayette and to become the best marshal's office nationally. A 30-year veteran of the Lafayette City Police Department who worked his way up the ranks, as a detective and eventually serving as deputy and interim chief of police, Marshal Reggie was elected Lafayette City Marshal in December 2020. On January 8th, 2025, he celebrated his fourth anniversary in office. Of note, Marshal Reggie was the first African American to be elected citywide in the history of Lafayette. The Marshal's office is chiefly responsible for keeping the city court safe and secure, serving subpoenas to people called to court, and executing arrest warrants for people who have not complied with the law or court order. In the City of Lafayette, there are two city court judges, Judge Douglas J. Saloom and interim Judge Vanessa Harris, who was called to served upon the untimely death of Judge Jules Edwards. Salary and benefits for the marshal's office staff are paid for by the City of Lafayette. Everything else is funded by a percentage of criminal and civil fines and fees paid for citations and tickets. The employees are at-will employees. "We have 32 sworn officers, as well as ten reserve officers. We have another 30 to 35 clerks that work in the building, handling the court, the tickets, the civil part,the criminal part, and the supervisors. We might have 400 people come through the door on any given day, and each person has to be searched to make sure everyone is safe." The City Court territorial jurisdiction extends over all territory in the corporate limits of the City of Lafayette, plus the Third and Tenth Wards of Lafayette Parish. The court handles claims for personal injury, general damages, contract, open account, and commercial paper where the amount of the claim doesn't exceed $35,000, and small claims suits that do not exceed $5,000. It also handles landlord-tenant matters (Evictions) and violations of state misdemeanor criminal laws and/or Lafayette Consolidated Government City Ordinance violations that occur within the City of Lafayette. First time domestic violence cases also go through City Court. Marshal Reggie mentioned the important work of the late Judge Jules Edwards, who endeavored to assist first time offenders, to keep them from getting in deeper trouble and ending up in Angola. When Marshal Reggie was elected, they started the "Renewal Program", where participants learn to manage anger, control their behavior, and become better citizens. Upon completing the program, their efforts are recognized, and they have the opportunity to move forward with a clean slate by having their offense expunged from their record. "The renewal program was something that I started when I first took office, along with Judge Edwards. When a first time offender gets sentenced by the judge, normally they have to do community service. With this program, they attend eight weeks of classes and we have people that have made major mistakes come in and talk to them. Maybe a guy that did 25 years in jail or was on drugs, stuff like that. So we show them things that, hey, this is where you don't want to be at, but this is what you can accomplish if you're doing the right thing." Seventy juveniles have participated so far with great success. "Most schools have zero tolerance. Now, if you get in a fight at school, you go to jail. Some of us older people remember when we were in school, you would have to go sit in a corner after a fight, but you didn't go to jail. So now, you are arrested, you have to come to court and pay fines. I started seeing where the parents weren't able to pay the fines, and the kids would wind up in juvenile detention. So the Renewal Program gives a second chance and the charge won't remain on their permanent record. The kids have to be serious about the program, can't miss any days,
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