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S u n d ay, O c t O b e r 5, 2025
“I absolutely love the job I have. It’s a more impactful one.” LOUISIANA ATTORNEy GENERAL LIZ MURRILL
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Kickback schemes fallout may widen Investigation could touch state agencies in parishes beyond Lafayette
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR | Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
As Louisiana’s attorney general, Liz Murrill has thrust the state into the center of national debates about abortion, transgender athletes and redistricting.
‘She has not backed down’
Supreme Court case shows Louisiana attorney general’s aggressive, high-profile approach BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer During her 20 months as attorney general, Liz Murrill has driven Louisiana into the center of some of the country’s fiercest political debates. After the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, she joined 16 other Republican attorneys general in warning universities not to impose a “tax on free speech” by charging student organizations higher security fees. She is trying to extradite a New York doctor criminally charged with violating Louisiana laws by mailing abortion pills to the state. She sued the Biden administration to block a rule that allows transgender girls to use girls’ bathrooms and participate in sports as girls. And now Murrill, 61, is stepping into perhaps the biggest legal fight in years involving race by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a key part of the decades-old Voting Rights Act. If
successful, the move could force either U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields or U.S. Rep. Troy Carter — both Black Democrats — out of Congress, to be replaced by a Republican. By aggressively pursuing high-profile conservative causes as attorney general, Murrill has been following a playbook established over the previous eight years by her Republican predecessor, Jeff Landry. During that time, Murrill was one of Landry’s top lawyers. Landry’s activist style as attorney general was so popular that he parlayed it into the election as governor in 2023, in the same campaign cycle when Murrill won her race to succeed him. Landry admires her work as attorney general. “She understands the playbook better than me,” he said in an interview.
ä See MURRILL, page 6A
The kickback schemes orchestrated by Youngsville contractor Dusty Guidry reach beyond the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Lafayette District Attorney’s Office to other parishes. Guidry has been implicated in but not charged for his involvement in a credit card processing scheme in the 34th Judicial District Court in St. Bernard Parish and the 32nd Judicial District Court in Terrebonne Parish as well as a drug court scheme, all of which were detailed in a plea agreement addendum he signed in March 2023. Guidry Guidry also admitted on the witness stand Sept. 11 in the trial of co-conspirator Gary Haynes to taking kickbacks from vendors while working in the pretrial intervention program in East Baton Rouge Parish but was not charged for that. Guidry was sentenced Oct. 1 Haynes to four years in federal prison on three charges, two counts of conspiracy and one count of bribery for schemes he set up in the Wildlife and Fisheries, which implicated former agency Secretary Jack Montoucet, and the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Lafayette, which implicated former Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes. Montoucet is set for trial in federal court in Lafayette in May. Doug Herman, lead FBI agent on the Wildlife and Fisheries Montoucet case, said Sept. 17 on the witness stand for Haynes’ trial that people are “still being charged” in that case. Haynes was convicted on six federal charges in September and is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 17. As early as October 2021, Guidry’s plea agreement states, Guidry and others, including someone described as “public official No. 3,” a supervisor or manager in the 34th Judicial District Court in St. Bernard Parish, as well as other employees and managers of the District Attorney’s Office for the 32nd Judicial District Court in Terrebonne Parish, planned and
ä See SCHEMES, page 5A
Tech experiment hopes to improve Louisiana’s byways Parishes using AI to scan, report road conditions
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
As artificial intelligence becomes more ingrained in aspects of everyday life, some parishes are exploring whether it can be used to help address one of Louisiana’s biggest issues: roads. Louisiana’s road conditions have consistently been ranked among the poorest in the country due to factors such as deterioration and poor maintenance. Improving roads is commonly at the top of state and local leaders’
WEATHER HIGH 85 LOW 71 PAGE 6B
agendas. Now, a handful of Louisiana parishes have been experimenting with technology that uses AI in hopes of improving conditions in a more efficient way. The program GoodRoads has now worked on six projects in the state in Livingston, Iberville, St. James and Allen parishes in the past year. GoodRoads is described as a software and hardware solution to help governments responsible for road maintenance make better, faster decisions. Founder and civil engineer Chris Sunde, of North Carolina, said his company sends cities and parishes the device with a camera, a roughness sensor and GPS.
Improving roads is commonly at the top of state and local leaders’ agendas. Now, a handful of Louisiana parishes have been experimenting with technology that uses artificial intelligence in hopes of improving conditions in a more efficient way. STAFF FILE PHOTO By ELLIS LUCIA
ä See BYWAYS, page 5A
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