(part three of a three part series)

No. 21 – Percy D. Hebert served from 1941–1974. Sheriff Hebert was a Democrat and when elected in 1941, he was the youngest sheriff in the state of Louisiana. He was born in St. John the Baptist Parish on July 13, 1907. Sheriff Hebert joined the Louisiana State Police in 1934 and worked there until 1940, when he resigned to run for sheriff. When Huey Long was assassinated, Trooper Hebert was assigned as the personal body guard for the Long family. On Nov. 6, 1935, Percy Hebert married Leona Montz. When he ran for sheriff, there were 13 other candidates running for the position. There was a run-off between Hebert and Hannon I. Barre of Edgard. Hebert won by 263 votes and was sworn into office Aug. 3, 1941. He served more than 30 years as sheriff and on Jan. 7, 1974, died of a heart attack while in office.

No. 22 – Dr. S.J. St. Martin, coroner of St. John Parish, served as sheriff as stated by state law. Dr. St. Martin remained sheriff until Gov. Edwin Edwards appointed the sheriff’s wife, Leona Hebert, sheriff on Feb. 20, 1974.

No. 23 – Leona Hebert served Feb. 20, 1974–Dec. 1974. The wife of Sheriff Percy D. Hebert became the first female to hold the office as sheriff. She was a Democrat and held office for 10 months, until an election was held. She passed away from cancer May 7, 1978.

No. 24 – Lester J. Millet served 1974–1976. Sheriff Millet was born in New Orleans on April 22, 1939, and is a Democrat. A special election was held to finish the term of Sheriff Hebert, who died while in office. Millet won the election and served in office for 14 months. When the regular election was held a deputy who had worked for Sheriff Hebert and Sheriff Millet, Mr. Lloyd Johnson, won the election. The St. John Sheriff’s Office was in major debt and shorthanded, and upon

losing the election, Sheriff

Millet resigned from office. Lloyd Johnson, the new sheriff-elect, was appointed by Gov. Edwin Edwards on Feb. 1 to finish the term of Sheriff Millet.

No. 25 – Sheriff Lloyd Johnson served 1976–1996.Sheriff Johnson was born Oct. 22, 1929, in Gatesville, Texas. He moved to Louisiana at a young age and attended school in Reserve. He later worked in the oil fields for about 19 years. On March 31, 1951, he married Mary Ferraro, and they had one child, Toni.

He decided to go onto law enforcement, and on July 1, 1970, he started working for Sheriff Hebert. After the death of Sheriff Hebert, he ran for the office to fill the rest of the term of sheriff. He lost this election to Lester Millet. At the end of the unexpired term, the regular election was held, and Lloyd Johnson ran and won. He took over the office of sheriff early because Sheriff Millet resigned. Gov. Edwin Edwards appointed Lloyd Johnson to finish Sheriff Millet’s term before being sworn in as sheriff for the regular term.

Sheriff Johnson took over an office that was in debt $96,576.82. In a short period of time Sheriff Johnson cleared the debt. He ran a department with only seven patrol cars, two of which didn’t even have motors.

For the next 20 years an five months, Sheriff Johnson ran a debt-free and outstanding sheriff’s office until his retirement. Upon his retirement from the Sheriff’s Office he left the newly elected Sheriff Wayne Jones, $5 million in the bank and a debt free office.

Sheriff Johnson also served as president of the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association 1991-1992.

No. 26 – Sheriff Wayne L. Jones served 1996 – 2012. Sheriff Jones was born in St. John the Baptist Parish on Jan. 15, 1954. His father worked in the River Parishes as a State Trooper for 23 years. Sheriff Jones married JoAnn Martin on Feb. 9, 1973, and they have three daughters. He entered law enforcement in 1977 going to work for Sheriff Lloyd Johnson. He stayed until 1982, when he left the Sheriff’s Office to go to work for Bayou Steel. He worked at this job for three years and then returned to work for Sheriff Johnson. He was assigned to the District Attorney’s Office as the chief investigator. Upon the retirement of Sheriff Johnson in 1996, he ran for office and won the election. Sheriff Jones has held the title of sheriff for the past 16 years. He will leave the Sheriff’s Office debt free with $3.5 million in the bank. He employs over 300 employees at this time.

Upon first taking office a serial killer struck in St. John Parish, and it took thousands of man hours of good police work to catch this killer. As far as law enforcement, this was a major accomplishment for Sheriff Jones in his career.

The voters supported him and passed a .25-cent tax along with grants. This allowed Sheriff Jones to hire more deputies and buy the necessary law enforcement equipment needed to run his department. Sheriff Jones remains in office until June 30, 2012.

On July 1, 2012, Sheriff-elect Mike Tregre will take over the office as sheriff of St. John the Baptist Parish. Mike Tregre will become

the 27th sheriff of the parish, and this will be the third time an African American has held the office of sheriff. The first black sheriff to hold the office was Sheriff John Webre in 1876 – 1877 and for a second time in 1878-1896. Mike Tregre’s history has not yet been written.

I would like to thank Sheriff Wayne L. Jones, Lloyd Johnson, and Matthew J. Flynn, grandson of Lloyd Johnson and Lester Millet for their help and support of this article. Other sources of information were provided by Mr. Lubin F. Laurent, historian for St. John the Baptist Parish, and Sheila Adams for this article.

Having made law enforcement my career, I have always believed in supporting those who also dedicated their lives to law enforcement. This article is a tribute to all the sheriff’s that has served St. John the Baptist Parish since 1814.

Wayne Norwood can be contacted at the Louisiana Treasures Museum or by calling 225-294-8352.

Wayne Norwood is a lieutenant with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Department and owner and operator of the Louisiana Treasures Museum.