Photograph: St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard and his attorney Chris Ludeau speak following the conclusion of a Friday morning District Court Hearing. (Photograph by Bobby Ardoin)
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
St. Landry Parish president Jessie Bellard had his reelection candidacy ruled unopposed Friday morning after challenger Richard Lewis III failed to appear for a State District Court hearing.
Following several rounds of testimony conducted despite Lewis’ absence, retired State District Judge John Trahan ruled that there is no evidence or records presented during the hearing that indicate Lewis filed any of his income tax returns in 2021-22.
Since Lewis was listed as the only candidate to challenge the reelection of Bellard, the court decision currently marks the end of the 2023 Bellard campaign,
Considerable applause occurred from a number of parish government workers present in the second floor courtroom after Trahan announced his ruling.
The hearing was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Trahan waited until 9:38 a.m. to begin the hearing after court officials attempted to contact Lewis or his attorney.
St. Landry Clerk of Court Charles Jagneaux testified that records associated with candidate qualifying completed Aug. 10 show that Lewis signed an affidavit which says that he had successfully filed all of his income tax returns when he qualified to run against Bellard.
Bellard filed a lawsuit this week contesting the candidacy of Lewis, who had previously worked in parish government as code enforcement director before his resignation.
Bellard said after the hearing that Lewis was placed on administrative leave after Lewis resigned.
In the lawsuit filed into district court records, Bellard said that Lewis should be disqualified, since Lewis allegedly never filed his income tax records with either the federal or state governments over the last two years.
Attorney Chris Ludeau, who represented Bellard during the hearing, said that investigators had made extensive effort to locate Lewis prior to the hearing and serve him notice that his candidacy for parish president was being challenged.
Investigator Kirk Menard testified that he had tried to locate Lewis at both his residence and workplace in order to notify Lewis of the court hearing.
Bellard said following the hearing that a private investigator made an effort to locate Lewis, but Lewis could not be found at his residence or current place of employment.
The ruling by Trahan Bellard said, will also include a signed order that requests the Louisiana Secretary of State to remove Lewis from the state list of qualifiers.
In a phone conversation with St. Landry Now.com 25 minutes following the conclusion of the hearing, Lewis said he didn’t appear in court because he was not served any notice that he was required to appear in court on Friday.
“I was never served. People were calling me and asking me why I wasn’t in court. I told them I was never served. At this point all I have to say is this is not over. I’ve paid all my taxes and if I had been served, I would have been able to prove in court that my taxes are paid,,” said Lewis.
Bellard said the court ruling also requires Lewis to pay all attorney’s costs and court and investigator’s fees associated with the hearing.
