Author: Robert Burns

Former Ascension Parish Sheriff Captain C. J. Matthews.

Disclaimer:  Sound Off Louisiana makes no endorsement in the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff race.  Our perspective from the outset of this series is only making the firm statement that former LSP Col. Robert Hodges would not be our choice.  The video of one of his competitors below merely permits him the opportunity to sound off just as Hodges was permitted to do regarding Installment One of this series. 

We’ve received many inquiries on when we would publish Installment 5 of our series on the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff race and the candidacy of former LSP Col. Robert Hodges.

We do plan to publish that installment; however, it will be after the election, and we’re committing to do so irrespective of whether Hodges is in any runoff or even if there is no runoff at all and one of the candidates wins outright after the last vote is counted Tuesday night (November 3, 2026).

We are preempting that installment for several reasons.  First, former Ascension Parish Sheriff Captain C. J. Matthews has been chomping at the bit to chime in on Installments 1-4.  Longer term site visitors may recall that we published a series on Matthews and his quest to become Sheriff in Ascension Parish in 2023.

Let’s take a look at what he had to say, and we would highly recommend anyone watch this video because we believe it’s critical to have the perspective of a 30-year sheriff deputy (who rose to the level of Captain) regarding his desires (or obvious lack thereof) to work for a sheriff like Robert Hodges.  Here’s his take on our first four installments:

10/30/26:  Matthews sounds off on installments 1-4 of our series on the candidacy of former LSP Col. Robert Hodges and his quest for becoming the next Sheriff of St Tammany Parish.  [NOTE:  Please excuse the initial blurriness of the video.  It will become clear one minute into the video when Burns returns to being behind the camera].

Just as a clarification entailing the video above, former LSP Capt. Guillotte’s correspondence with Burns, up until the time there was a totally inadvertent sending of an email to him by mistake, was limited to a suggestion Guillotte made regarding incorporating promotional summaries into an ongoing series we were publishing about troopers’ complaints that former LSP Col. Lamar Davis was basing promotions with a focus on race and/or gender, which had angered many troopers at LSP.

Another reason we preempted Installment 5 is that a public records lawsuit was filed by parties deemed loyal to Hodges’ campaign.  A court hearing was held on the litigation on Wednesday, October 28, 2026.

Rather than go into the details of the lawsuit, who was behind it, and the tactics deployed, we’re going to let one of Hodges’ opponents, former Slidell Police Chief Daniel Seuzeneau, provide his own take (i.e. sound off) on the lawsuit, especially since he was named as a Defendant in the suit:

10/28/26:  Seuzeneau breaks his silence regarding the litigation.  CLICK HERE for the exhaustive itemization of documentation provided in response to the lawsuit.

Beyond Seuzeneau sounding off regarding the litigation, car dealership owner Matt Bowers also chose to sound off, and he has gone so far as to firmly state that he will sue individuals involved in the matter for defamation.  Here’s Bowers’ perspective on matters:

Bowers provides his take on some of the recent actions undertaken by others in the campaign.

For review purposes, here’s our ongoing list of all features as we progress through this series (and, again, we’ll publish Installment 5 after the election irrespective of the election’s outcome):

Installment One:  Hodges touts St. Tammany as “home for nearly 25 years,” but former LSP Capt. Guillotte states he falsified database with Lafayette address for Major promotion.

Installment Two:  Hodges touts “transparency” in sheriff election, so why block document denying Capt. Guillotte’s weapon purchase request with LSP falsely denying the record even exists?

Installment Three:  Hodges touts “transparency” in sheriff election, but blocking public-records requests cost taxpayers $12,500 (Lens) and $4,500 (WAFB).

Installment Four:  Hodges’ LSP “transparency” certainly didn’t extend to the public’s right to know alleged wrongdoing of former Trooper T. J. Doss.

Just as we have stressed in past features, let’s hope the best man wins the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff race either on election day, November 3, 2026, or in a runoff on Saturday, December 12, 2026!

Former Louisiana State Police (LSP) trooper T. J. Doss, who resigned in disgrace as Chairman of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) days after an August 10, 2017 LSPC meeting.  Doss again resigned in disgrace from LSP on August 23, 2025.  He did so in the immediate aftermath of an internal affairs investigation, after which Col. Robert Hodges strategically deployed a “letter of counseling,” which he issued to Doss in order to block Doss’ alleged wrongdoing from ever being revealed to the public.

Former LSP Col. Robert Hodges is running television ads touting the fact he will be a Sheriff of St. Tammany Parish who will be transparent and serve with “trust and integrity.”:

Television ad wherein former LSP Col. Hodges touts making the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office “transparent” and him serving with “trust and integrity.”

Well, on January 14, 2026, we published this feature regarding former LSP Trooper (and Chairman of the LSPC), T. J. Doss’ dramatic “fall from grace.”

Doss was a one-time darling of LSP Troopers who managed to convince his fellow troopers to elect him as the trooper-representative on the LSPC (the Governor chooses the other six Members), and he made no secret whatsoever that he would be on a mission to terminate the LSPC’s Executive Director, Cathy Derbonne.

Derbonne found herself in hot water when she reported impermissible campaign contributions to the Louisiana State Board of Ethics.  The campaign contributions, made to the campaigns of former Governors John Bel Edwards and Bobby Jindal, were made by three (3) Members of the LSPC who each had to subsequently resign from the LSPC.

One of those Members was Franklin M. Kyle, who served on the Board alongside Jared Caruso-Riecke, of American Bank in Covington.  Riecke, along with family members, have substantial ownership in the bank.  Riecke would ultimately succeed Kyle on the LSPC, and he was equally determined to ensure Derbonne’s ouster as was Doss.

Doss ultimately succeeded at forcing a hurriedly-slapped-together resignation letter from Derbonne during an executive session of the LSPC in January of 2017; however, Derbonne subsequently sued the LSPC, with taxpayers ending up paying approximately $272,800 in a negotiated settlement with Derbonne (including defense attorneys’ fees).

On August 10, 2017, operating on one of numerous tips we’ve received in covering LSP for almost a decade, Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns videotaped Doss exiting a movie theater with then-LSPC Vice Chairman Monica Manzella shortly after the LSPC Meeting of that same day:

Then-LSPC Chairman, T. J. Doss, accompanied by then-Vice Chairman, Monica Manzella, exited the Movie Tavern theater in Baton Rouge after enjoying a movie (and judging by Doss’ large mug, at least one beer for him) shortly after an LSPC meeting on August 10, 2017.

Within a couple of hours of leaving the movie theater, Burns again videotaped Manzella and Doss checking into the Watermark Hotel (again, acting upon the same tipster’s guidance):

Then-LSPC Chairman, T. J. Doss, checked into the Watermark Hotel in Baton Rouge with then-Vice Chairman Monica Manzella hours after an LSPC Meeting earlier that same day of August 10, 2017.

Both Manzella and Doss resigned from the LSPC in disgrace soon after their above escapades.

More recently, Doss, apparently still leaning on being in the “clique” of troopers currying favor from former LSP Colonel Robert Hodges, secured permission to resign from LSP on August 23, 2025 soon after we received reports of wrongdoing on Doss’ part.

Now this wrongdoing, which we’ve been told the nature of but have refrained from making public (we most certainly would if we could obtain the documentation to substantiate the allegations), was of such a serious nature that Doss would agree to voluntarily resign after years as an LSP Trooper.  Nevertheless, Hodges would strategically deploy a mere “letter of counseling” as the only form of action taken, thereby shielding the underlying allegations from public view (because such letters are not considered discipline at all)!

As we continued to make inquiries of Hodges’ upper brass, we were told that Doss resigned effective August 23, 2025 in the immediate aftermath of an internal affairs investigation.  When we then made a public records request for any and all documentation pertaining to that investigation, here is what we received from Robert Hodges via his upper brass upon Hodges’ highly-strategic deployment (we call it abuse) of a “letter of counseling:”

“The Louisiana Department of Public Safety, Public Safety Services has reviewed your request and has determined that the records requested are exempt from disclosure under FOIA for the following reasons:

Letters of counseling or other investigations that do not result in discipline – LSP Comm Rule 12.9 provides that Letter of Counseling [sic] are not considered “public.” Any investigation that does not result in discipline is not considered “public.”

So, as we have emphasized throughout this series, of which this is installment four with the fifth to be published in coming days, it is up to the voters of St. Tammany Parish regarding whether they wish to believe Hodges’ TV ad campaign depicted above.  We think it’s pretty clear how we at Sound Off Louisiana assess those ads, however.

Here’s our ongoing list of all features as we progress through this series:

Installment One:  Hodges touts St. Tammany as “home for nearly 25 years,” but former LSP Capt. Guillotte states he falsified database with Lafayette address for Major promotion.

Installment Two:  Hodges touts “transparency” in sheriff election, so why block document denying Capt. Guillotte’s weapon purchase request with LSP falsely denying the record even exists?

Installment Three:  Hodges touts “transparency” in sheriff election, but blocking public-records requests cost taxpayers $12,500 (Lens) and $4,500 (WAFB).

As we have reminded everyone in prior installments, early voting commenced on Tuesday and runs through Tuesday, October 27 (except Sunday, October 25).

In the end, let’s hope the best man wins the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff race either on election day, November 3, 2026, or in a runoff on Saturday, December 12, 2026!

A check for $4,500 drawn on the Louisiana Treasury Department (i.e. taxpayers) signed by former LSP Col. Robert Hodges to the law firm of Sternberg, Naccari & White, LLC after the firm (via attorney Scott Sternberg) succeeded in forcing LSP and Hodges to turn over a surveillance video sought by WAFB (Channel 9 in Baton Rouge) depicting the full-force, open-handed slap to a handcuffed inmate at the Avoyelles Parish Correctional Facility delivered by LSP Trooper Matthew Clair.  Hodges fought the release of the video for well over a year in asserting that Clair’s “right to privacy” exceeded the public’s right to view the slap.

Former LSP Col. Robert Hodges is running television ads touting that he will be a transparent Sheriff of St. Tammany Parish who will serve with “trust and integrity.”:

Television ad wherein former LSP Col. Hodges touts making the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office “transparent” and him serving with “trust and integrity.”

LSP, under Col. Robert Hodges, entered into a contract with the WilmerHale firm providing for $1,000 per hour legal services. The contract had a $2 million annual cap and options for two renewals.

The Lens NOLA submitted a public records request for the contract. LSP, again under Col. Robert Hodges, refused to produce it, asserting various exemptions (including deliberative process, a privilege no longer available under Louisiana law). The Lens filed a Writ of Mandamus lawsuit in the 19th Judicial District Court on April 29, 2024.

The Lens sought the record (i.e. the contract) and roughly $32,278 in attorney fees, expenses, and costs (more than 102 hours of work billed primarily at $250/hour and $400/hour, plus about $1,053 in travel and $1,020 in court costs).  Through litigation, Lens obtained the contract, and the parties settled the lawsuit with taxpayers having to remit $12,500 to Lens.  From the document just linked:

Attorneys’ Fees and Costs

3.1. In consideration for Petitioners signing this Agreement, Defendant agrees to pay attorneys’ fees and costs in the total amount of $12,500, full and final with both Parties dismissing any and all claims in the Lawsuit, including any appeal rights related thereto.

So there we have $12,500 in direct taxpayer expenditures wherein a media outlet had to spend extensive time and effort and incur legal fees to obtain a simple contract calling for a law firm to receive $1,000/hour that LSP and Col. Hodges felt neither the media nor the public needed to see.  We would also note that the $12,500 figure does not include payments made to the law firm Breazeale Sachse for its defense of LSP.  That amount likely exceeded the $12,500 obtained for Lens’ own legal fees and costs.

Next up, we have the Gray Media (WAFB) v. LSP public-records lawsuit. In that matter, 19th JDC Judge William Jorden ordered LSP to turn over the surveillance video of Trooper Mathew Clair (involving alleged excessive force during a 2022 booking at the Avoyelles Parish Detention Center). We will also note the judge’s comments openly questioning the rationale for Col. Hodges’ earlier reduction of Clair’s discipline to a non-disciplinary letter of counseling.

Former LSP Col. Lamar Davis had imposed a 40-hour unpaid suspension for alleged use of excessive force; however, Hodges, as noted by Judge Jorden, rescinded that suspension and expunged the matter from Clair’s file.

Here’s a very brief (29-second) video of the incident:

29-second video clip highlighting the full-on slap delivered by LSP Trooper Matthew Clair as featured on the WAFB feature on the matter.

While we believe WAFB and attorney Sternberg were gracious in accepting only $4,500 after a year-long battle, taxpayers still had to pay that amount because of Hodges’ refusal to release the video (as depicted in the lead photo of this feature).  Though it is Hodges’ signature on the above check, the money came from the general treasury which is to say taxpayers’ pockets.

Recall from installment two of this series that, on November 7, 2025, LSP flat-out lied to us regarding the existence of the weapons application denial Hodges himself executed on September 9, 2025.  We believe common sense dictates that, especially given the nature of what we sought, Hodges is the likely culprit for the well-documented falsehood that the record did not exist when it clearly did.

One reason we didn’t follow WAFB’s lead and sue is because, while Louisiana’s statute does provide for a $100/day penalty for failing to turn over a public record, there is no guarantee at all that a judge will award it.

Hence, despite Hodges’ stonewalling us on the weapons denial by LSP’s intentional deceit about the denied application, had we sued, we would have likely gotten:  #1) the record, and #2) attorneys’ fees.  We were able to obtain the record through other much more efficient means (likely to the great chagrin of Hodges).  Hence, a lawsuit would have only been a long, arduous affair that we felt would unnecessarily burden taxpayers with yet more legal fees over Hodges’ obvious proclivity to block any public record he can.

This is the third of our installments regarding the candidacy of former LSP Col. Robert Hodges to become St. Tammany Parish’s next Sheriff.  We’ll have the fourth installment out in coming days.

Here’s our ongoing list of all features as we progress through this series:

Installment One:  Hodges touts St. Tammany as “home for nearly 25 years,” but former LSP Capt. Guillotte states he falsified database with Lafayette address for Major promotion.

Installment Two:  Hodges touts “transparency” in sheriff election, so why block document denying Capt. Guillotte’s weapon purchase request with LSP falsely denying the record even exists?

As we reminded everyone in prior installments, early voting commenced yesterday and runs through Tuesday, October 27 (except Sunday, October 25).

In the end, let’s hope the best man wins the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff race either on election day, November 3, 2026, or in a runoff on Saturday, December 12, 2026!