Did You Know/ Sheriffs of St. Landry Parish

St. Landry Parish was enacted by the Louisiana Legislature as a parish in 1805. The Governor appointed a military, Captain John Bowyer as the first (Sheriff) Civil Commandant to the Opelousas Post in 1805.
Listed below are all the Sheriffs of St. Landry Parish that were either elected, appointed or assumed the duties of sheriff after his death:
1. Captain John Bowyer- 1805-1807 (Civil Commandant- Opelousas Post) born 1767 – died 1851.
2. Elisha Owens- 1807-1810.
3. Cornelius Voorhies Sr.- 1810-1815 born? died 8/1859.
4. Samuel McIntire – 5/1815- 8/1817.
5. Hubert Janise- 8/1817- 8/1819.
6. Theophilus Collins- 2/1819-1821.
7. Benjamin S. Haw-1821-1827.
8. George Jackson-1827-1835.
9. Lewis Andrus- 1835-1839.
10. James Morgan- 1839-1843.
11. John Taylor- 1843-1849.
12. Harrison Rogers – 1849-1854.
13. P.L. Petit- 1854….?
14. Jean Baptiste David – 1/1854- 12/1856 (He was Tax Assessor prior to Sheriff).
15. Louis Veilland Chachere – 1/1856- 12/1864- lost election to James G. Hayes.
16. James G. Hayes – 1865-1869 – killed by Deputy T.W Evans, died in office.
17. John G. Brooks- 3/23/1869.
18. James M. Thompson – 6/29/1869.
19. E.O. Hayes- 12/20/1870-1874.
20. C.C. Duson – 11/2/1874-1880 (founder of Eunice) b. 8/1846 died.?
21. T.S. Fontenot – 4/17/1880- 1896-. Election was held on 4/21/1896,
Deshotels beat Fontenot by 216 votes.
22. H.H. Deshotels- 4/21/1896 – 11/12/1897
23. W.S. Frazee – 11/1897- 12/1899 Gov. appointed him when Deshotels died in office. Legend has it that Sheriff Deshotels died when political foes put crushed glass in his drink when he was at a supper in Ville Platte. Frazee did not run for Sheriff in 12/1899. He was nominated to be state democratic auditor.
24. Marion Swords – 4/17/1900- 7/17/1916- 1916 (killed by Hilaire Carriere near Mallet). Chief Deputy R.M. Little assumed the duties until Gov. appointed parish tax assessor D.M. Fontenot as Sheriff until the election was called.)
25. R.M. Little– (Chief Deputy for Marion Swords assumed the duties of sheriff when Sheriff Swords was killed, then Governor appointed D.M. Fontenot).
26. D.M. Fontenot – was appointed sheriff. Sheriff Swords died, then the election was called in 1916. Fontenot was elected over Charles Thibodeaux by 239 votes. 1916-1920.
27. Charles Thibodeaux – 4/1920-1935 (Died in office).
28. John T. Beard – (Interim) 12/10/1935. Less than 2 months before
the primary election, Sheriff Thibodeaux died at age 68 of blood poisoning. State law at the time required that the parish coroner be appointed interim Sheriff unless the Governor ‘saw fit’ to appoint someone else. Chief Deputy Simon Stelly was not allowed to assume the duties of Sheriff because Governor Allen wanted to appoint his ‘man’, John T. Beard. Qualifiers for Sheriff in 1936 were; D.J. ‘Cat’ Doucet, Simon Stelly and Dudley Briley. As expected, Simon Stelly was high man in the Democratic Primary with 4,934 votes, Cat Doucet was right behind with 3,639 votes, and Dudley Briley received 2,933 votes. Simon Stelly and Cat Doucet were thrown into a run-off in March 1936. Results showed Cat Doucet with 7050 votes and Simon Stelly with 4,163. Cat carried 27 of the 31 precincts. Stelly led in Bristol, Cankton, Notlyeville and Plaquemine Point.
29. D.J. “Cat” Doucet – 5/21/1936-1944.
30. Simon Stelly – 4/16/1944- Defeated Cat Doucet by 257 votes, (6,595 to 6,338).
31. Clayton Guilbeau – 1944-1952.
32. D.J. “Cat” Doucet – 4/22/1952-1968.
33. Adler V. Ledoux – 7/1/1968- 1980.
34. Howard J. Zerangue, Sr. 7/1/1980-5/2006 retired prior to death.
(Chief Deputy Laura Balthazar assumed the duties and responsibilities of the sheriff until November 20th, 2006 when she and challengers, Johnny Barras, Jim Darby and Lambert Castille were defeated by retired State Trooper, Bobby J. Guidroz in a special election.
35. Bobby J. Guidroz- 2006-2007 (Regular election was called in October 2007 and Laura Balthazar (13,265), Johnny Barras (180), and Lambert Castille (158) challenged Guidroz again, and they were defeated by Guidroz by over 8,000 votes.
Bobby J. Guidroz- 2007- 2011. In 2011, Carl Hardy ran for sheriff against Guidroz. Guidroz defeated Hardy in all precincts in the parish in this election. Bobby J. Guidroz- 2011-2015 – Unopposed in the 2015 election.