The Lafayette District Attorney's Office on Monday filed a petition to disqualify former Youngsville Police Chief Rickey Boudreaux from running for the same office he resigned from last year.
Boudreaux qualified Wednesday morning for the special election, despite a Louisiana law revised in 2023 that says an elected official who has retired, resigned or been removed from office is ineligible to be a candidate at an election called to fill the vacancy created by the official's retirement, resignation or removal.
District Attorney Don Landry gathered supporting documentation from the Secretary of State and city of Youngsville that indicated Boudreaux did, indeed, resign from the same office for which he is running, to file a petition to begin the disqualification process. From there, the 15th Judicial District Court is expected to issue a judgment that orders Boudreaux to withdraw from the primary election. If Boudreaux fails to comply within 24 hours, the court would then issue a judgment disqualifying Boudreaux as a candidate for the office.
Boudreaux was not immediately available for comment.
Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Louis Perret said his office fielded several calls Wednesday from Youngsville residents questioning Boudreaux's eligibility to run.
"So I feel certain somebody's going to contest it," Perret said last week. "And somebody would have to step forward and contest it in order for his qualification to be reviewed."
Landry said Thursday that his office was preparing to file a petition to disqualify Boudreaux from running for the office.
"We're doing our research," Landry said last week. "Of course, it's the first time we can find that anybody is challenged under that new law, so we want to make sure we get it right."
Boudreaux, 63, cited health concerns in an Aug. 9, 2023, news conference as his reason for resigning from the elected position he had held since 2015.
But his resignation came after pressure to resign following a March 2023 Acadiana Advocate story that revealed a City Council member may have received special treatment after she called the police chief from the scene of a crash in Sugar Mill Pond. Kayla Reaux, the former council member, did not receive a sobriety test or citation and left the scene of the November 2022 wreck in Boudreaux's vehicle. She resigned days after the Advocate's story published.
In the months that followed, Boudreaux was the subject of criminal and ethics investigations, a formal complaint, an audit and a lawsuit.
The Sheriff's Office investigation into the Youngsville Police Department covered missing property and evidence, juvenile citations that never made it to the District Attorney's Office, unauthorized fuel usage, a citizen with a criminal history living at the Police Department and methamphetamine found near Boudreaux's office at the Police Department.
The investigative findings regarding juvenile citation handling were also forwarded to the DA's office for prosecution consideration. State laws concerning malfeasance in office, disposition of traffic citations and illegal cancellation of traffic citations were violated, according to the investigation.
That case is still open and under review by DA's Office.
"It's an investigation that's under review," Landry said. "And I can't comment any further than that."
Another charge against Boudreaux for possession of methamphetamine was refused by the DA's office on Wednesday, the same day Boudreaux qualified for the election. The reason for the refusal was noted by prosecutor Holden Hoggatt as "police action sufficient."
Landry called the timing a coincidence.
Last month, Boudreaux announced on Facebook that he would be a candidate in the special election that's being held for the seat he vacated. After others questioned his eligibility for the race, Boudreaux said he was seeking an Attorney General's opinion.
Other candidates who qualified last week for the race include Interim Youngsville Police Chief Cody Louviere, Jean Paul "JP" Broussard, John Trahan Jr. and Matt Thomassee.
Boudreaux, Louviere, Broussard and Thomassee are White Republicans.
Trahan, who is Black, is running under no party.
Louviere, appointed interim chief by the council last year, spent 22 years at the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, where he rose through the ranks until his recent appointment.
Broussard has 27 years of experience in law enforcement and emergency services, working as a paramedic for Acadian Ambulance and a deputy marshal for the Lafayette Marshal's Office.
Trahan has 32 years of law enforcement experience as a retired trooper with Louisiana State Police and a former deputy with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office. Trahan ran an unsuccessful bid for Lafayette city marshal in 2020, eliminated from the race after receiving 20% of the vote during the primary election.
Thomassee worked as a deputy and later as a supervisor for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office before working as a private investigator. Thomassee ran an unsuccessful bid in 2014 for a seat on the Youngsville City Council and applied twice in 2023 to fill vacancies on the council but was not appointed to either seat.
The primary election is set for Nov. 5, with a general election happening Dec. 7 if there is a runoff.