Orleans Parish judge accuses Sheriff Hutson of contempt of court

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Criminal District Chief Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier is calling out Sheriff Susan Hutson, claiming she has been failing to accomplish a critical part of her job.

Flemings-Davillier is accusing Hutson of failing to follow several requests to resume the transportation of inmates on weekends and holidays for their first court appearances.

“If they can’t get arrestees in front of a magistrate in a timely fashion, and in Louisiana that’s 48 hours, you have a situation where that person can be released,” legal analyst Justin Schmidt said.

Back in 2022, another criminal court judge accused the sheriff of the same problem. This issue arose just after the Covid-19 pandemic, and Sheriff Hutson responded to the judge by saying that she was operating at less than 45% of required deputy staffing.

“I think the sheriff’s office legitimately lost a lot of employees and it was difficult, but even during Covid, the court still had to administer justice,” Schmidt said.

Due to these alleged failures today, Judge Flemings-Davillier is now accusing the sheriff of contempt of court.

Schmidt says a case could be made against Hutson. But there might be one problem.

“You’d have to get a deputy that works under the sheriff to arrest her, so that brings a practical consideration that might be difficult,” Schmidt said.

Sheriff Hutson said that she would need a minimum of 12 deputies per day to conduct full in-person weekend proceedings, adding more than $350,000 to the sheriff’s budget; an amount she says her office can’t afford.

Latest Posts