Former Ascension Parish Sheriff Deputy C. J. Matthews.

In our December 16, 2025 feature entailing Louisiana State Police (LSP) Col. Robert Hodges’ failure to release a video entailing allegations of excessive force and the fact WAFB is suing him over that failure, there was a single comment made to that feature by Martin Cooper, who is a 37-year friend and former FDIC coworker of Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns which we want to draw attention to for the outset of this feature:

 

You can thank Senator Miguez and Representative Emerson for emasculating Louisiana public records law so agencies like LSP can operate in secret and potentially abuse Louisiana citizens.

I hope Senator Cassidy is paying attention. The people of Louisiana want transparency, not secrecy.

So what is really going on? You can read it here: https://lailluminator.com/briefs/gov-landry-enacts-law-that-lets-officials-ignore-public-records-requests/

After Sen. Miguez and his friends removed all personal liability penalties for failing to abide by open records laws, he opened the door for unscrupulous actors like Colonel Hodges to completely ignore state law, which is exactly what LSP is doing.

LSP’s response to everything now is screw you, sue me, which most people don’t have the means to do. Even for those who do, like WAFB, it doesn’t matter because if LSP loses, they just dip into the public kitty and pay. Thus, basically the public is being used to hide corruption at the highest level of state government, and Senator Miguez was one of the architects. He just thought the public was too dumb to figure it out. Well now you know.

We want to be as blunt as we possibly know how to be in reinforcing our sentiments that, in the history of Sound Off Louisiana’s 10-year existence, we believe this is one of the most, if not the most, spot on comments ever made on this blog!  We also want to draw attention to the headline of the feature for which Cooper provides the link above:

Gov. Landry enacts law that lets officials ignore public records requests

In our experience (and clearly that of many other media outlets, to obviously include The Lens / Nola and WAFB), that (ignoring public records requests) is precisely what has transpired since State Rep. Les Farnum (R-Sulphur)’s bill was signed into law by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.

In a recent interview (more like a venting session for both he and Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns), former Ascension Parish Sheriff Deputy C. J. Matthews, with whom we conducted an extensive series of alleged corruption of former Ascension Parish Sheriff (now State Rep. Jeff Wiley) and current Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre (Matthews’ step-brother), sat down to vent on some of the recent favoritism that he alleges has arisen in recent weeks entailing law enforcement officials.

What follows is a no-holes-barred, raw naked exposure of rank corruption and favoritism extended by law enforcement officials (especially District Attorneys) in Ascension, Livingston, and East Baton Rouge Parishes:

Burns and Matthews pull back the curtain to expose law enforcement corruption and favoritism extended in Livingston, Ascension, and East Baton Rouge Parishes and discuss recent tax failures initiated by EBRP District Attorney Hillar Moore.

As promised in the video above, here is the link for the Sound Off Louisiana feature entailing former LSP Captain Belinda Murphy “blowing a gasket” when she learned of Matthews’ possession of Attorney General files which, as indicated on the video above, he obtained via public records requests.

Matthews likely would not be able to obtain such records today compliments of Gov. Landry, Rep. Farnum, and 99 other House Members  and 35 Members of the Louisiana Senate.  Burns states on the above video the only solution to the roadblock these legislators and Gov. Landry have now erected that effectively kills Louisiana citizens’ rights to public records.

Also, as referenced on the video above, here are the links for WAFB’s Chris Nakamoto features entailing the preferential treatment Matthews asserts was extended to Murphy:  2/26/25 “booking blunder” and 11/19/25 feature of Murphy’s hiring as Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Deputy.

Also, as referenced in the above video, here is the link for our January 22, 2017 feature outlining all of the many “first offense” DWIs of Cody Bowlin in Livingston Parish.  Burns has made a couple of trips to the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court just to confirm that Bowlin continues to be a loose cannon endangering the lives of any motorist who comes anywhere near him, and not unexpectedly, there were quite a few more incidents since the feature we published, which further illustrates the outright favoritism (and point-blank corruption) of Livingston Parish DA Scott Perrilloux.

Here are documents pertaining to a 10/5/23 incident which we provide merely for illustrative purposes because, being blunt, it isn’t worth our time to comb through all of the incidents and provide updates for them:  Bill of Information, Arrest Warrant, and his special bond provisions (released on personal surety) since the poor baby apparently couldn’t afford bond after the umpteenth arrest!

From the Bill of Information:

THAT ONE Cody Matthew Bowlin ON THE 5th DAY OF October. 2023 IS CHARGED WITH Aggravated Obstruction of Public Passage, Aggrivated Criminal Damage to Property, False Imprisonment, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Possession of Marijuana Under 14g, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Violation of Protective Order (firearm).

As is evident from the narrative of the arrest warrant, Bowlin telephoned the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office and said that he had been involved in a “hit and run” with a U-Haul driver (later identified as William King) who was, “attempting to flee.”  Bowlin told investigating officers that King had been hired to assist his girlfriend with moving furniture from her camp.  Bowlin then stated that he, “entered his 2020 Silver GMC truck attempting to block the U-Haul believing that he (King) was attempting to steal it.”

Once King successfully avoided Bowlin’s attempt to block the U-Haul, Bowlin, “gave chase with he and King driving through multiple residential yards before Bowlin was able to successfully block King’s U-Haul.”  Bowlin then stated that King struck his truck with the U-Haul as King sought to escape.  Bowlin’s statements led to his immediate arrest.  Bowlin’s “girlfriend” was then interviewed, and she indicated that she was in no relationship with Bowlin.  When King was interviewed, he stated that, upon discovering that Bowlin intended to “steal” the U-Haul, he phoned Bowlin’s “girlfriend,” and she then instructed him (King) to, “return to Baton Rouge with the U-Haul.”

King further stated that Bowlin, “intentionally crashed into the U-Haul and pointed a gun at him (King)” as he tried to escape.  King’s statements were corroborated by a disinterested third-party witness.  The arrest warrant also reveals that Bowlin was, “wanted through a fugitive arrest warrant by the EBRPSO.”  The warrant also indicates Bowlin was a “convicted felon per his criminal history results.”  Further, Bowlin was subject to a protection order.

What, one may ask, is Bowlin’s status such that he would be afforded such highly favorable treatment by District Attorney Scott Perrilloux?  Well, he would be the grandson of the late Marvin Henderson, himself a convicted felon with a highly-checkered auction career.  Interestingly, the National Auctioneers Association opted to induct Henderson into its “Hall of Fame,” notwithstanding the felony conviction for wire fraud entailing an auction and his other checkered past issues.

Meanwhile, Bowlin’s escapades continue as evidenced by this February 23, 2025 arrest:

At least now law enforcement and prosecutors are giving Bowlin credit for his DWI efforts in labeling this one a “fourth offense OR SUBSEQUENT” (emphasis ours).  Trust us, the number is far, far higher than four!  All anyone has to do is examine the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court’s records to ascertain the number of “first offense” DWIs on Bowlin’s record; furthermore, that doesn’t even include DWI arrests not in Livingston Parish, of which there are two we outlined on the feature on Bowlin published back in 2017 (EBRP and St. Landry Parishes)!

We may make a trip to the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court sooner or later to check on the ultimate disposition of this latest arrest, but what we’d love to do is have Gary Chambers, whom Burns references in the video with Matthews above, as a Sound Off Louisiana guest and let him elaborate as to whether a black man with no political connections who engaged in actions such as Bowlin’s would be afforded such generous treatment!

Now, there is also a segment of the feature video above with references Burns confronting District Attorney Hillar Moore about the alleged favoritism extended to Belinda Murphy and our December 6, 2021 prior confronting of Moore entailing the OBVIOUS favoritism extended to former Louisiana State Trooper Association (LSTA) Executive Director David Young.

Anyone is welcome to view the video to see Moore’s response and Burns expressing open dismay at the fact that Moore (unless he was acting) had no idea who David Young is.  After the meeting, Moore told Burns that, “whatever I said last time is what I want to stick with.”  Accordingly, let’s present that video once again (which incorporates WAFB video of Young chasing his daughter’s boyfriend in the LSTA parking lot and firing a gun in his general direction):

EBRP District Attorney provides an explanation on 12/6/21 entailing why he opted to drop all charges against former LSTA Executive Director David Young.

There again, we’d love to have Gary Chambers as a Sound Off Louisiana guest and inquire of him if a young black man with no political connections could expect for a DA to simply drop the charges when there is a video depicting the very act!  To us, Moore’s excuse for not prosecuting is about like saying, “Well, there were no witnesses to step forward entailing the Ronald Greene matter, so video notwithstanding, I’m just going to drop the charges.”

Now, we’re almost done but, as Burns references in the feature video above, he felt he would be remiss if he did not reference Craig Mills, whom Burns conducted a series of interviews entailing his frustration with Louisiana “adoption scams.”  We followed Mills’ case from its outset through its conclusion but, because there were so many court hearings, we never reported anything until some sort of resolution was obtained.

What ultimately transpired was that, disgraced Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts, who has since been removed from the Bench, heard a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendant in the lawsuit.  She denied the Motion, which was great news for Mills.

The Defendant appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which remanded the case back to Foxworth with a statement that she would first have to supply written reasons for her ruling.  Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns was in the Courtroom when he heard with his own ears Foxworth state, “The First Circuit has informed me that I have to supply written reasons for my ruling in this matter.”  We kid you not!  Those words came straight from the disgraced former Judge’s mouth!

So, the First Circuit is having to provide remedial training for a matter that a first-year law student ought to know by the third week of law school!

Let us not forget that this Judge is the same Judge whom prominent Baton Rouge Conservative Republican Woody Jenkins came to the defense of.  From the preceding Advocate article:

“Whether she was a captain or not, we would have endorsed her,” Jenkins said. “She was a constitutionalist, pro-family, pro-life, conservative, and that’s who we support.”

At any rate, Foxworth-Roberts indicated at the hearing that she would draft her reasons for ruling and set a court date for her to make those reasons known to all parties.  Burns attended that court hearing as well.  Foxworth-Roberts provided both attorneys with an approximate 14-page itemization of her ruling, but guess what, folks?  She reversed herself and granted the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, and the Craig Mills civil litigation concluded because he’s become exhausted and simply could not pour more resources at the matter to appeal that Judgment to the First Circuit.

We bring all of that up because, as Burns explains on the video above, Mills expended enormous resources litigating the matter, and that included a significant outlay to locate the birth mother of the child.  Once he succeeded and the birth mother was apprehended, EBRP District Attorney Hillar Moore wasted little time granting her a release from jail.  In fact, Moore was so trigger-happy to release the birth mother that she was gone from jail before Mills could even have his attorney depose her, which he was seeking very much to do!

We reached out to Mills to provide whatever explanation he was provided entailing Moore’s action.  Mills responded, “He (Moore) dropped the charges due to prescription, but (the) defense attorney did not make that claim in his motions.”

So, whenever DAs suffer defeats from the voters when they seek more funds (and perhaps even mere future renewals if the kind of favoritism toward law enforcement continues), we respectfully submit that these DAs need only take a good close look in the mirror for why their ballot initiatives fail!

If anyone may be interested in hearing Moore provide tons of stats in the immediate aftermath of the defeat of Mayor President Sid Edwards’ THRIVE voter initiative on November 15, 2025, feel free to CLICK HERE to hear all of the gloom and doom and boohoo cries from Moore in their entireties from his 11/24/25 appearance at the Baton Rouge Press Club.

Happy New Year, folks, and, trust us, we’ve got plenty more lined up for the entity upon which we report the most:  Louisiana State Police.  Just stay tuned!

Matthew Rose, member of Americans for Equal Shared Parenting (AESP).

On April 22, 2025, Louisiana State Sen. Royce Duplessis (D-New Orleans) introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 9 which:

Creates the Task Force on Fatherhood Engagement to study how Louisiana can increase the engagement of fathers in the lives of their children, research best practices, and develop recommendations for each state agency to promote the full inclusion of fathers and the involvement of fathers in the lives of their children.

The Resolution passed without a single “no” vote in either the Louisiana House or Senate, and periodic meetings of the newly formed Fatherhood Engagement Task Force have been transpiring since passage.

The Task Force created this survey for fathers to outline their experiences.  Further, anyone is welcome to view the agendas and minutes of the meetings by clicking here.  Finally, reports of the task force are available here.

Right before Christmas, one gentleman who attends the meetings as a member of the community, Matthew Rose of Slidell, reached out to us and asked to appear on camera to outline his perspective on why legislative initiatives are needed to enhance father-child bonding, and he placed a strong focus on his own experiences entailing his efforts to have more bonding with his own son:

Matthew Rose outlines his own experiences with Family Court and his contentions that he and many other fathers in Louisiana are treated unfairly concerning child custody matters in Louisiana.

The efforts of the Fatherhood Engagement Task Force dovetail on the efforts of Mark Ludwig and Americans for Equal Shared Parenting (AESP), of which Rose is a Member.  The group touts legislation in 38 states.  Notably, in Missouri, in 2016, HB-1550, which encouraged maximizing time with both parents but without a “strict presumption” that both parents are equally qualified to provide care, passed.

Nevertheless, when the group tried to advance that initiative in 2019 in Missouri via HB-229 along with a companion Senate bill (SB-14), those initiatives, which sought to establish a “rebuttable presumption” that equal or approximately equal parenting time is in the child’s best interest, which sought to build on prior attempts such as HB-1667 in the 2018 Missouri Legislative Session, failed to pass Missouri’s Legislative process and therefore were not signed into law.

Not being an organization to simply give up, however, AESP again advanced the initiative to the Missouri Legislature in 2023, and this time, the measure passed and became law in Missouri effective August 28, 2023.  That measure was SB-35, which was sponsored by State Sen. Karla May, and it passed the House by a margin of 114-9, and it passed the Senate by a margin of 30-4.  Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed the bill into law on July 6, 2023. Here are important provisions of Missouri’s law:

Missouri courts now presume that equal or approximately equal parenting time for both parents is in the child’s best interest.

The starting point is shifted from previous practices, which often favor one parent with primary custody and the other with visitation, to a default of shared parenting time.

The presumption may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence that equal time is not in the child’s best interest to include a) mutual agreement of the parents, b) a court finding of a pattern of domestic violence, or c) other factors showing harm to the child.

Regarding Louisiana’s present matter and the Rose video above, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns had no idea prior to filming that Rose would be discussing family court in St. Tammany Parish.  Once Burns learned of this fact “on the fly” so to speak, Burns immediately thought about a book published by Terry King (with Chris Warner) of the group Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish.

That book is No Limit Big Game Hunting (in St. Tammany Parish).  The book is an absolutely fascinating read entailing incredible insights into matters of St. Tammany Parish corruption; however, for purposes of Rose, Burns allowed him to borrow the book which King graciously gave to Burns when King appeared on Sound Off Louisiana and encouraged him to read the chapters devoted to illustrations of Family Court Corruption in St. Tammany Parish (though King readily admits such practices are not unique to St. Tammany Parish but are prevalent throughout courts in Louisiana).  Although Burns indicated there were three chapters centered on St. Tammany Family Court corruption (again, he was operating on the fly), there are actually two.

Those chapters are chapters 8 and 9.  We want to strongly encourage anyone desiring to learn more about such corruption to purchase the book (but we want it clear that Burns does not receive, nor will he accept, a dime from any such book sales); however, we’d like to present just a brief passage from the book attributable to a young lady known only as “Sunshine” who observed St. Tammany Parish Family Court for a protracted period.  Here’s a relevant excerpt from the book which we paraphrased in the interview with Rose on the video above:

In light of her experiences, Sunshine offered a caring recommendation worth reflecting upon, especially if you want to save your family’s finances from eventual ruin.

“Some of the best advice I can give anyone in St. Tammany Parish contemplating a divorce…DO NOT allow a lawyer to file a motion on your behalf initiating the involvement of the court.

If you do this, you invite the court and its many agents into your life.  You must, at all costs, stay out of family court!  The judges have discretion and can ruin your life — as they can do whatever they want as there is no oversight of their actions on the bench.  This means they are omnipotent.

When you petition the court, you ask them to come into your life.  Do not do this.  Once you do, you no longer have control.  Do not invite the court into your life.  It is wholly regrettable, as they are chiefly there to foster vexatious litigation and to bill excessive and unnecessary legal and service hours.  Consider the less expensive and more pragmatic alternatives.

You can get a no-contest divorce for $750 in St. Tammany Parish.  Once you bring the court and its many minions into the fold you relinquish control and allow them to take over your family’s finances and your future.

So, at all costs, you should talk to your spouse and explain what is at stake, for the sake of economics, and your children, going forward.

A divorce in St. Tammany can cost both parties together, on average, in excess of $500,000 or more, depending on counsel and of course, the judge.”

What a statement, folks, and that statement comes from an authoritative expert having examined the system for a very protracted timeframe.

This feature is our final post for the year 2025, and we hope our dedicated site visitors have found our material presented to be useful and informative.

While we’re done for 2025, trust us, we have some incredible features lined up for early 2026 and, for those curious, “yes,” there will be a heavy focus on Louisiana State Police!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Louisiana State Police (LSP) Col. Robert Hodges.

Our website visitors will recall our July 22, 2024 feature entailing LSP Col. Robert Hodges’ “deal cutting.”  Basically, Hodges felt a need to clear the deck of legacy matters pertaining to his predecessor, Col. Lamar Davis.  More details are available at the preceding link, but we merely stress that one of those “deals” entails LSP Master Trooper Mathew Clair.

The Clair matter has taken on more significance even as numerous sources have contacted us indicating that Hodges is under serious consideration to become the next U. S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The present U. S. Marshal is Biden appointee Enix Smith III.  Smith was appointed by Biden, confirmed by the U. S. Senate, and his four-year term began on July 26, 2022.  U. S. Marshals serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States, and obviously it is a given that Smith will not be reappointed to another four-year term by President Trump.  Our sources tell us that Hodges and one other gentleman, with whom we are very familiar but are opting not to divulge the name of for purposes of this feature, are considered the lead candidates for the position.

Over the course of the last three or four weeks, we have been provided with an absolute plethora of alleged seriously problematic acts transpiring under Hodges’ watch which may be intentionally being kept out of public view.  It’s our intent to gradually reveal those alleged problematic acts over the next 3-5 weeks.

Today’s feature, however, focuses on Hodges’ “deal cutting” as referenced in the first paragraph above and specifically the Clair “deal.”  Let’s begin by repeating the details of one row of a table incorporated into the “deals” feature as well as video from the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) meeting at which Hodges convinced the LSPC to go along with a “deal” he’d worked out which effectively wiped out totally the discipline handed down to Clair by former LSP Col. Lamar Davis.  Hodges cut that “deal” notwithstanding the nature of Clair’s act entailing alleged excessive force:

3/14/24:  LSPC ratifies Master Trooper Mathew Clair’s settlement agreement proposed by LSP Col. Robert Hodges.

The Clair matter has taken on far more significance since WAFB announced its lawsuit against Hodges for withholding the video.

The lawsuit was filed at 8:24 a.m. yesterday (Monday, December 15, 2025), and within a couple of hours thereafter we were at the EBRP Clerk of Court’s Office to obtain our own copy of the lawsuit for publication to our site visitors.

When we produced the feature entailing retired LSP Capt. Heath Guillotte flat-out denouncing Hodges’ “hypocritical leadership,” stating into our camera that Hodges considers Sound Off Louisiana’s Robert Burns, WAFB’s Chris Nakamoto, and Fox8’s Lee Zurik to be on par with “P Diddy” and are “not to be spoken to under any circumstances,” we now know that’s what he meant.

Why?  Because Nakamoto, acting through WAFB Investigative Producer Kevin Foster, got the same type of runaround (arguably even worse) than has Burns in his recent public records requests.  We encourage anyone to simply look at pages 8 – 20 of the lawsuit (the exhibits) to see the incredible depths LSP would stoop to in order to ultimately deny the public records request for the video.  It’s un-freaking-believable!

Let us focus in on a few highlights from the core pleadings of the lawsuit, which is in the form of a Writ of Mandamus, which is a filing to attempt to force a public agency to fulfill its obligation to conform to a duty over which the agency has no discretion (i.e. a “ministerial act”).  From the litigation:

Since early 2025, journalists at WAFB have sought public records concerning alleged excessive force by Louisiana State Police Trooper Matthew (Mathew) Clair against an inmate in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, an incident that led to discipline and a March 14, 2024 settlement before the Louisiana State Police Commission in the case bearing Docket No. 23-267-S.

On April 10, 2025, WAFB Investigative Producer Kevin Foster submitted Public Records Request No. R014465-041025 through the Louisiana Public Safety Department’s Public Records Center (the “Records Center”). He requested “any and all body camera footage, and written or typed reports tied to incident 23-267-S as part of the State Police Commission’s appeal process for Trooper Matthew Clair,” and requested a fee waiver. See Exhibit “A.”

The Records Center then repeatedly demanded additional “clarification,” including an 8-digit LASP report number and further details about the incident, even after Mr. Foster supplied an internal affairs number, the State Police Commission docket number, and other information. Id.

On May 5, 2025-nearly a month after the original request-the Records Center advised that there were “no responsive records” to Request No. R014465-041025.

The Records Center suggested Mr. Foster submit a new request. See Exhibit “B.”

In response, the Records Center again requested “clarification,” asserted that the request was “too vague,” and demanded further particulars, despite already having the trooper’s name, time period, and discipline as search parameters. Mr. Foster then narrowed and amended the request to seek Trooper Clair’s internal affairs and discipline history (his “disciplinary jacket”) from 2020 forward. The Records Center thereafter estimated that up to forty-five (45) days would be required for review and redaction but produced no records. See Exhibit “B.”

On July 30, 2025, WAFB News Director Robb Hays submitted another public records request, No. R017642-073025.

On or about August 6, 2025, Captain Graham, on behalf of Defendant and the Records Center, denied Mr. Hays’s July 30 request. Graham asserted that any video responsive to the request was part of an internal affairs investigation that ultimately concluded with non-disciplinary action. Further, Graham stated the video sought was associated with a letter of counseling rather
than discipline, and, pursuant to Louisiana State Police Rule 12.9, was not considered a public record. The response did not invoke any specific statutory exemption or any other provision of the Public Records Law and did not address the request for documentation regarding its destruction.

On August 8, 2025, counsel for WAFB sent Captain Graham a detailed letter explaining why the requested video is a public record, why no statutory exemption applies, and why neither LASP Rule 12.9 nor generalized “privacy” assertions justify withholding the video. Counsel requested reconsideration and warned that litigation would be required otherwise.

Petitioner sought these records in order to report on matters of significant public concern, including alleged excessive force by a state trooper and the discipline that followed.

The Petitioner avers that the reporting on this matter is of the utmost public interest in the operation of law enforcement in the state of Louisiana, and the United States. Petitioner respectfully requests this Honorable Court review the unredacted records in camera in accordance with the law and determine whether the Defendant’s blanket claim of exemption is proper.

As stated in La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 44:31(B)(3), the “burden of proving that a public record is not subject to inspection, copying, or reproduction shall rest with the custodian.” Indeed, “the custodian must defend his action in a contradictory hearing.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has held that the Public Records Law should be “construed liberally in favor of free and unrestricted access to the records, and that access can be denied only when a law, specifically and unequivocally, provides otherwise…. Whenever there is doubt as to whether the public has the right of access to certain records, the doubt must be resolved in favor of the public’s right to see.” Title Research Corp. v. Rausch, 450 So.2d 933, 936 (La. 1984).

Petitioner furthermore avers he should be awarded reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs of litigation available pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. § 44:35(D).

We do have a suggestion as a cost saving measure for LSP.  Just have AI respond to these public records requests with the same automated mode of “act stupid and downright ignorant, pose ridiculous queries for ‘clarification,’ indicate the need to make a brand new request, deny request based on privacy issues.”  There simply is no need for humans to be involved in this process!  AI can handle that function far better, and at least it won’t be as mind-numbingly arrogant and condescending as it is with humans sending this garbage out!

We feel compelled to state that well-placed sources told us that LSP had “sealed” the internal affairs records of Guillotte, but perhaps Hodges didn’t count on Guillotte’s willingness to call him on the carpet about allegedly supplying a false address to even qualify for the Major position, to be willing to conduct a very high-profile on camera interview with us about the internal affairs investigation and, most significantly, to supply video footage of the internal affairs interviews.

Obviously, Guillotte’s willingness to provide such incredible details on Hodges’ managerial style largely negated the need for an internal affairs file.  Nevertheless, for the record, even though we were informed the Guillotte matter was “sealed,” (as if LSP is some sort of Court of Law), we made a request for the entirety of Guillotte’s file and got pure runaround just like WAFB did.

Further, we asked for the written denial of Guillotte’s application to purchase his weapons, and we could produce the utterly idiotic, bone-headed, inexcusable runaround we got for that, but suffice to say we supplied Guillotte’s application with all of his information redacted out, only to then be told by LSP that, “no records responsive to your request exist.”

When we then asked if Hodges’ denial of Guillotte’s application to purchase his weapons was merely verbal, we predictably got no response whatsoever from Hodges and Company over at LSP!

As our site visitors may recall, the last time Hodges was sued for failing to produce an obvious public record, the LENS NOLA pretty much handed Hodges’ head to him on a platter.  Ironically, Capt. Russell Graham is the lead photo on the just linked feature (who is now LSP’s Public Affairs Command Officer), and it is none other than he who is the subject of the Rule to Show Cause to provide arguments as to why the records should not be handed over to WAFB.  Of course, he’ll do so using attorneys, and that just drastically increases the costs to taxpayers, particularly if WAFB prevails (and we certainly hope that they do) and us taxpayers are then held liable for their attorney fees, court costs, and any penalty (up to $100 a day is what the Statute calls for).

The case has been assigned to 19th JDC Judge William Jorden, and we commit to attend the contradictory hearing for the matter and report upon the outcome.

We further commit to report upon a number of other alleged wrongdoings on the parts of LSP Troopers which are somehow failing to make it into public airwaves.  One can only ponder if there’s a concerted effort to keep all the acts on the QT so as not to interfere with Col. Hodges’ ability to obtain that U. S. Marshal’s  position (assuming the numerous reports that he is in the running are accurate).

If it were left up to us, Hodges’ application would be dead on arrival; however, we readily admit that the Trump Administration may view these matters very differently than we at Sound Off Louisiana do.  We guess we’ll know by July 26, 2026 who that next U. S. Marshal is going to be whether it be Hodges or otherwise.