In a move that surprised members of the Acadia Parish Police Jury Tuesday night, parish attorney Brad Andrus resigned the position he has held for the last six-and-a-half years.
And in a move that seemed to surprise some in the audience, the Police Jury voted unanimously not to accept his resignation.
Unfortunately, Andrus had left the meeting room before the jury’s vote.
The jury was expected to go into executive — or closed — session early in the meeting “to discuss legal counsel.” But it was obvious from the start of the meeting that Andrus had other plans as he stood impatiently at the lectern during the opening items (roll call, acceptance of the minutes and agenda revisions).
When the agenda item that concerned Andrus came up, jury President David Savoy announced that the attorney had asked to make a statement in lieu of the executive session.
Andrus started out by thanking the jurors for giving him the opportunity to represent the parish, adding “the pleasure has been all mine.”
He went on to commend the jurors for the jobs they do and specifically cited Savoy as “one of the best police jury presidents in the state of Louisiana.”
That being said, he continued, “I hereby tender my resignation as attorney for Acadia Parish effective immediately. My resignation is a direct result of the toxic, adversarial, adolescent, unprofessional, third-grade mentality which spews from the administrative office.
“I now move from the defensive side of the ball to the offensive side of the ball. Have a great evening.”
And with that, Andrus turned, picked up his briefcase and left the meeting room.
After a few moments of stunned silence, jurors looked to District Attorney Keith Stutes, who was seated in the audience, to ask if he would represent the jury.
Stutes, who admitted that he was as surprised as everyone else at Andrus’ resignation, said he “has always been available to answer any questions the jury might have.”
Stutes pointed out, however, “We just recently went through a process to get legislation for you to be able hire your own counsel. I find it a little ironic that we’re here now.”
The district attorney told jurors they now had to make a decision as to whether they were going to continue to hire their own counsel or enter into an agreement with his office for representation. “There will be a cost, either way,” he added.
That’s when Juror Ronnie Fabacher surprised the audience.
“If Brad is willing to ‘get in our box’ and work like we need it done, I move that we not accept his resignation,” Fabacher said. Richard Faul seconded the motion.
Before it was offered for a vote, Savoy asked Fabacher to stipulate that Andrus “would have to sit down with us and create some boundaries.”
With that amendment, the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
After the meeting, A.J. “Fatty” Broussard, secretary-treasurer and supervisor of the administrative office, said he was surprised at Andrus’ statement and resignation.
“I didn’t see that coming,” he said.
Savoy added that the executive session had been called so that jurors could talk with Andrus “about boundaries.”
“Every single person that works here has parameters – a ‘box’ they work in. Granted, some boxes are larger than others, but all we wanted to do was to establish that box for Brad,” Savoy said.
The jury president added that he sincerely hoped Andrus would be willing to meet with him to “start a dialogue” and that a mutual understanding could be reached.
No word concerning that meeting had been received as of Wednesday.
