Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – In an effort to consolidate employees and offices into one location for better overall service and a bit more space, St. John District Attorney Tom Daley recently moved his east bank offices to a new location just off Belle Terre Boulevard in LaPlace.

Daley said the move, which was fully completed early last week, brings assistant district attorneys and DA investigators under one roof and allows for a staff member from his office to be available to deal with the public at all times. Daley said he will keep his office at the Edgard Courthouse and child services will still operate out of the old annex     building on West Fifth Street, but the majority of his operation will be out of the new place, located at 1710 Cannes Drive in LaPlace.

Tom Daley’s new office located at 1710 Cannes Drive is bigger and will allow the office to better serve the community, according to the DA. (Staff photo by Robin Shannon)

“The old offices were not consistently staffed because assistant district attorney’s were usually in court,” said Daley. “In the new place, there will always be someone, whether it be an investigator or assistant, to handle the public’s concerns.”

In addition to his new digs in LaPlace, Daley said he also has plans for improvements at the Arcuri center on the East Bank, which is often used as an annex to the courthouse in Edgard.

“It is not acceptable for court proceedings,” said Daley of the center. “The building needs better flooring and better seating. There also needs to be something on the outside that will better protect residents who are forced to stand outside and wait. I want to commit some money to the facility.”

The new location is just the first of numerous changes Daley said he has in store for the future of his first term in office. This includes substantial upgrades in office technology.

“We are going to have more dependence on e-mail within the office,” Daley said. “I’m trying to work toward receiving all data from the Sheriff’s Office electronically and eliminate multiple data entry tasks. It will make the process much faster.”

Plans are also in the works for a website for his office where residents can get answers to frequently asked questions, look up a court schedule or pay tickets and fines.

“Hopefully, we can eventually develop a system where residents can pay fines and other fees over the Internet with a credit card,” Daley said. “It’s obviously a more ‘user-friendly’ way of payment.”

Daley said on average, his office is able to collect about 82 percent of all assessed fines. With the implementation of credit card payment, he believes he may be able to get at least 10 percent more.

Daley is also working toward a more active emphasis on repeat criminal offenders within the parish and focusing more attention on getting some of them off the streets quickly – something that St. John Sheriff Wayne Jones has been adamantly outspoken about.

“If we are able to identify those in the parish who are most active in criminal behavior, it will have a good effect on law enforcement,” Daley said.