OUT OF BALANCE

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Racial Disparity Among Louisiana’s Sheriffs and Prosecutors

These are the predominantly white male faces of the sheriffs and prosecutors sitting at the top of Louisiana’s criminal justice system in 2023. These positions have significant influence in a state that has, until its recent drop to second place, led the nation – and by extension, the world – with its incarceration rates.

The juxtaposition of the lack of diversity in these roles and Louisiana’s racialized status as one of the United States’ top incarcerators is jarring.

Currently, only four sheriffs and five district attorneys (DAs) in Louisiana are Black out of 64 sheriffs and 42 DAs across the state. This means that although over 33% of Louisiana’s population is Black, just 6% of sheriffs and 12% of state DAs are Black. In a state without term limits on either position, these demographics can also stay in place indefinitely if no one challenges incumbents.

Similarly, only five DAs and one sheriff in Louisiana are women, although over half (51%) of Louisiana’s population is female. In fact, the December 2021 election of Sheriff Susan Hutson marked the first time that the state’s third most populous parish, Orleans Parish, elected a woman – and the first time that the state of Louisiana elected a Black woman – to the role of sheriff.

Although people of color are grossly overrepresented at every point of the criminal justice system in Louisiana, white individuals hold the power to influence Black citizens’ interactions with racial profiling, criminalization, and incarceration. Statewide, Black people constituted 65% of people in Louisiana prisons as of 2022. Since 1983, the total jail population in Louisiana has also increased by 283%, with Black people making up 57% of the state’s jails in 2019.

Clearly, the people with chief roles in Louisiana’s criminal justice system do not reflect the state’s demographic diversity despite research that indicates that diversity in these ranks may increase public safety. Out of Balance aims to expose the lack of diversity in Louisiana’s law enforcement – particularly its sheriffs and DAs – to begin to chart a path toward a system truly representative of the communities it serves, and a culture that produces different outcomes for people of color.