The man who has run the state’s prison system for the last 16 years is resigning. Louisiana Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy Leblanc says health reasons are forcing him to step down.
Former state lawmaker and House Criminal Chairman Joe Marino says Leblanc did an excellent job despite limited resources.
“We have too many prisoners. We have not enough corrections officers. We have a whole system that we have been doing wrong for a long time,” said Marino.
Leblanc served for three governors, Republican Bobby Jindal, Democrat John Bel Edwards, and now Republican Jeff Landry. Marino says his expertise will be difficult to replace.
“He was somebody who really cared about what he was doing, and I’m not sure how they are going to replace someone like Jimmy Leblanc with that amount of knowledge and experience,” he said.
East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore says Leblanc worked hard to reduce the state’s recidivism rate.
“He was always working with us to do re-entry, helping those that were coming out of prison, knowing that 40-percent or so are going to come back. What can we do to stop that?” Moore said.
Landry says Leblanc’s dedication has been unmatched. Moore says the key to Leblanc’s success was that he was level headed.
“Respected by prisoners, lawyers, governors, you name it. That’s a tough task but he made it easy,” said Moore.
Landry says appointing a new secretary to this position will be a top priority.
