State Opens Parish Defenders Office
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
(Freddie Herpin photos)
State and parish judicial officials gathered in downtown Opelousas Friday morning to celebrate the opening of the 27th Judicial District Office of Public Defenders which is now located on East Landry Street.
In addition to promoting the opening of the building that will serve as the center for St. Landry Parish indigent defense attorneys, the event resembled more of an outdoor block party, as the dignitaries were treated to Zydeco musicians and spoonfuls of simmering gumbo that were served in the rear parking lot of the refurbished building.
Remy Voisin Starns, appointed by Gov. Jeff Landry to administer the creation of a statewide indigent defender agency , said St. Landry now has one of 14 state-operated offices that will be used for attorneys that represent their clients.
Antonio Birotte, head of St. Landry’s indigent defender board, said the building was refurbished at a cost of about $350,000 and will accommodate 17 attorneys who will now have adequate space to consult with their clients.
Birotte emphasized the significance of the location for serving indigent clients, since the 27th Judicial District, which includes all of St. Landry, has inexperienced a recent influx in crime.
The civil and criminal docket in St. Landry, according to Birotte, is nearly equal to the number of cases handled by the nearby 15th Judicial District which includes Lafayette and several surrounding parishes.
Previously the parish defense attorneys were using private offices, including one private practice location financed by former longtime defense attorney Edward Lopez.
Lopez, Birotte said, exhibited professional generosity by lending the building to other defense attorneys, but the office size was insufficient to handle the increasing number of attorney-client conferences.
“Right now there are 17 defense attorneys who will use this offense. In addition the office will accommodate two regular defense lawyers for city court in Opelousas and two that will serve in Eunice,” Birotte said.
The parish board is also used for the second chance program funded by opioid revenues and those who divert cases to the parish drug court, Birotte added in an interview.
Parish president Jessie Bellard said the state reform of the indigent defense system in 2024 has helped St. Landry recoup about $800,000 annually, since the parish now has to pay for fewer inmates being housed in other statewide facilities.
Starns said before the enactment of the new state indigent defense guidelines, public defense was individually controlled by parishes with an untenable system of funding.
District 40 state representative Dustin Miller, who assisted the parish with obtaining the indigent defender funding for St. Landry said Birotte was the obvious choice to be the director of the parishwide indigent defender board.
“When we did the interviews, i(Birotte) was the best choice. What we felt we needed to do (in St. Landry) was to find ways to get the best people who would provide representation,” Miller said.
Miller said it was also apparent that something needed to change both in St. Landry and statewide in order for defense attorneys to provide proper representation.
“When you have several hundred cases and clients are finding ways to contact their lawyers and complain about their attorneys not answering their calls, then this was something we felt we needed to address,” Miller pointed out.
