Qualifying for Lincoln Parish Police Jury set for next week

**The map of the 12 Districts for the Lincoln Parish Police Jury.**

by Malcolm Butler

The race for the 12 district seats on the Lincoln Parish Police Jury will become much clearer next week as qualification is set for Aug. 8 through August 10.

That’s when candidates must officially register for these races as well as many others throughout our parish and state.

However, for many Lincoln Parish residents, the police jury races are of utmost importance following the past few years.

Over the past six months, plenty of candidates have announced their intentions to run; or in some cases, not to run as three incumbents have officially stated they are not running for re-election, including Theresa Wyatt (District 1), Hazel Hunter (District 2) and Skip Russell (District 9).

As of today unofficial races based on announcements include District 2 (Tommie Woods vs. Karen Ludley), District 3 (Richard Durrett vs. Dan Lord), District 6 (Glenn Scriber vs. John Cole), District 10 (Milton Melton vs. Gary Baldwin), and District 11 (Sharyon Mayfield vs. Diane Richards).

At this time Greg Williams (District 1), incumbent TJ Cranford (District 4), incumbent Logan Hunt (District 5), incumbent Matt Pullin (District 7), Chris Garriga (District 8), incumbent Joe Henderson (District 9) and incumbent Annette Straughter (District 12) have no announced opposition. However, next week’s qualifying will provide a clear, official picture of the police jury races.

The Lincoln Parish Police Jury came under heavy fire with media and public scrutiny in 2022, especially with their handling of the fire, ambulance and rescue contract as well as the non-reappointment of then-Parish Administrator Doug Postel.

Due to both of those situations, many in Lincoln Parish voiced a strong desire to see some turnover on specific district seats. The November elections will provide that opportunity.

Local activist Rick Godley initiated a “Flip the Jury” sign campaign to encourage voters to become fully educated on how their district reps voted on these (and other) topics before casting their vote in a few months. “Flip the Jury” signs can be seen throughout Lincoln Parish.

Last October after countless police jury and committee meetings that saw plenty of political agendas emerge, the police jury voted in favor of the city’s 5-year proposal, albeit the vote was only 7-5 in favor. The narrow vote was in spite of the fact the Ruston Fire Department was and is currently more prepared from both an equipment and man-power standpoint, something that became evident during the course of the months of meetings.

However, despite the fact, the vote was still close.

Scriber, Cranford, Hunt, Pullin, Straughter, Russell, and Henderson all voted in favor of the city’s proposal while Durrett, Melton, Wyatt, Hunter and Mayfield all voted against it.

A few months later when it came time to vote on Postel’s reappointment as parish administrator, the police jury voted 8-4 against re-appointing him. The verdict came despite a strong turnout of pro-Postel supporters that packed the Library Event’s Center that night, including a overwhelming showing from parish employees.

Cranford, Hunt, Pullin and Scriber all voted to reappoint Postel while Durrett, Melton, Wyatt, Hunter, Russell, Henderson, Mayfield, and Straughter voted against it. And when questioned by media and parish residents as to why, most of the jurors who voted “no” hid behind no comment.

Their silence spoke volumes to many parish residents.

So November’s election could see residents cast their vote in a voice of protest to some of the jurors decisions over the past 18-24 months.

Below is information from the Louisiana Secretary of State website on the upcoming gubernatorial general election.

Nov. 18, 2023 – Gubernatorial General Election

The following is important information for the Saturday, Nov. 18 Gubernatorial General Election:

The deadline to register to vote in person, by mail or at the OMV Office is Oct. 18.

The deadline to register to vote through the GeauxVote Online Registration System is Oct. 28.

Early voting is Nov. 3-11 (excluding Sunday, Nov. 5 and Friday Nov. 10 for Veterans Day) from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Nov. 14 by 4:30 p.m (other than military and overseas voters). You can request an absentee ballot online through our Voter Portal or in writing through your Registrar of Voters Office.