Former Youngsville Police Chief Rickey Boudreaux can't run for the remainder of his unexpired term because his resignation is the reason for the election, Lafayette's district attorney argues in a petition filed Monday.
Boudreaux resigned from his job last fall, saying that constant accusations and a deteriorating relationships with city council members made him ineffective. After he resigned, an interim chief was appointed, and an election to fill the remainder of his unexpired term was called for November 5.
Qualifying for that election was last week, and Boudreaux qualified to be on the ballot. Also qualifying in that race were Jean Paul "JP" Broussard, Cody Louviere, "Matt" Thomassee and John M. Trahan Jr.
Then today, Lafayette District Attorney Don Landry filed a Petition to challenge Boudreaux's candidacy, citing evidence presented to him by a Youngsville voter. The petition cites two laws that Landry argues make Boudreaux ineligible to run.
The first requires that he live within the city limits of Youngsville. The other bars anyone whose retirement, resignation or removal from office from running for the unexpired term created by their retirement, resignation or removal.
Landry's petition requests that a hearing be held no later than July 25 to decide the issue.
We've reached out to Boudreaux to see if he has any response to Landry's petition; we'll update this story if we hear from him.
The resignation came after multiple allegations against Boudreaux and an ongoing lawsuit that he filed against the Youngsville City Council to stop their investigation of his actions since he took office.
Last year, the Acadiana Advocate reported on the crash involving former councilwoman Kayla Reaux, who also resigned after concerns were raised of allegedly receiving special treatment from Boudreaux the night of the accident.
The petition's filing today was broken by the same reporter who wrote the stories about the Reaux incident and the following developments. To read her story about the petition, click here.
