This story was originally published by the Louisiana Illuminator.
Gov. Jeff Landry is going to keep Louisiana’s longtime prison chief in his position — for now.
James “Jimmy” LeBlanc will continue to run the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections, in spite of the prominent role he played in Gov. John Bel Edwards’ criminal justice overhaul that Landry opposed.
Reducing crime is a top priority for Landry. The governor is expected to roll out his public safety agenda in a special legislative session next month.
“The department will work tirelessly to enhance public safety by ensuring our state prisons are safe and secure, provide evidence based educational and rehabilitative programming to those returning to our communities, and ensure strong oversight of those on probation and parole supervision,” LeBlanc said in a written statement confirming his reappointment Monday night.
As part of a broader plan, Landry hopes to reverse some of Edwards’ criminal justice law changes that LeBlanc helped put in place in 2017 to reduce Louisiana’s prison population. But the new governor apparently doesn’t feel it’s necessary to replace the public safety secretary to do so.
“We will continue to support the fight to reduce crime in our state especially through increased accountability, transparency, and other targeted initiatives,” LeBlanc said.
He has been the state’s prisons chief for the past 16 years, serving under Edwards and Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Landry’s decision to keep LeBlanc should please local sheriffs who pushed to have him stay. In Louisiana, sheriffs work closely with the corrections secretary because more than half of the state’s 28,000 prisoners are housed in local jails they run.
In his job, LeBlanc oversees the state’s prison system as well as its pardon and parole operations. He also technically has oversight of Louisiana State Police, though the law enforcement agency tends to manage its own affairs.
Unlike many state agencies, turnover in the prison system’s leadership is rare. There have been just two corrections secretaries over the past 30 years. LeBlanc’s predecessor, Richard Stalder, held the job under Govs. Kathleen Blanco, Mike Foster and Edwin Edwards.
LeBlanc isn’t necessarily expected to last the entirety of Landry’s four-year term. After working for the prison system for more than 50 years, he expressed an interest in staying on until the new Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel facility opens in 2025.
When Edwards was in office, LeBlanc was a champion for reducing prison sentences. Specifically, he advocated for the reconsideration of life-without-parole sentences and other very long prison terms. His stance was driven, in part, by the large amount of money the prison system spends on keeping old and very sick inmates behind bars.
But LeBlanc has also worked for a tough-on-crime governor. Jindal showed little mercy to state prisoners and offered incarcerated people very few opportunities for a pardon or clemency while he was in office.
Outside of the corrections job, the only two cabinet secretary appointments Landry hasn’t announced publicly are the leader of Louisiana Economic Development and the head of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.