Lemoine seeks re-election for Kaplan City Judge for 9th ward

I hereby announce my candidacy for re-election to the office of Kaplan City Judge for the 9th Ward of Vermilion Parish this November 4th.
Twelve years ago, I asked the voters for their trust and confidence and made a commitment to them, “I promise to serve our community by assuring the fair and impartial administration of justice in Kaplan City Court. I will be understanding, yet firm, willing to listen, but not afraid to make tough decisions when justice demands it. Justice will be administered fairly to all who come before the court.”
My campaign slogan was and will remain, “Honesty, Integrity and Service to the Community.” Without exception, I have honored and kept these promises and commitments to the people. As well, I am proud of the court’s many accomplishments during my terms of office.
During my 12 year tenure as Judge, the court has disposed of more than 12,500 cases, which include traffic, criminal, juvenile and civil matters. I have personally conducted more than 1,500 “Initial Presentments” or “72 Hour Hearings,” which are primarily to assure that all Constitutional rights due an accused at arrest have been granted. I have issued hundreds of felony arrest warrants, as well as, search warrants for drugs and other contraband, and have been available and subject to call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on weekends and holidays. Law enforcement’s need for a judge neither begins nor ends with regular working hours.
Even through the most difficult time of my life, during my wife’s final illness, while hospitalized out of state, at her bedside, I received, reviewed and issued warrants by facsimile transmission. With the exception of one occasion, I presided over every session of court during this difficult period. And though I could have asked the La. Supreme Court to temporarily excuse me, by appointing another judge pro tempore, while I was away, I chose to fulfill the duties which had been entrusted to me.
As Judge, within the past two years, I was able to implement a new program, with the co-operation and agreement of the Chief of Police. This program, Vsigner©, has given properly qualified law enforcement officers unlimited direct, electronic access to me, as judge, on moment’s notice, to review and approve by secure electronic means, arrest warrants, search warrants and 48 Hour probable cause determinations, without regard to time or my location. This has saved tax payers the cost and delay of all the inefficiency associated with finding the judge, physically printing the application, transmitting or delivering it to the judge, where ever he may be and then, having the judge place a call to swear in the officer and transmit or return the application to the officer.
Finally, we are on the eve of moving Kaplan City Court to its new location at the recently upgraded and re-modeled Wilkins Stroud Elementary School Building located in the 900 Block of N. Guidry Avenue in Kaplan. It is my hope and expectation that this newly upgraded facility will better facilitate the administration of justice, and therefore, better serve our community and state.
For those who may not know me, I was born in rural Grant Parish in 1953. I am the first born of Frank L. LeMoine and Frances Pauline Jones. At the time, my father was a log truck driver and my mother a homemaker. In his 27 years of life, cut short by cancer, my father accomplished little of social or historical significance, but in the very short time we shared, he passed to me a legacy that has proven more valuable than money or public notoriety. He taught me the value of hard work, honesty, respect of my elders, as well as, love of God, family and my fellow man. He did not found a city, but he nurtured a son, who was the first of his family to obtain a college education or become a respected lawyer and judge. His legacy, the love of my family, and God’s Grace provided all I needed to find my own way and make my own successes in life.
After graduating in 1971 from Grant High School, I married my soul mate, Geraldine Guidry, and we chose to make our home in Kaplan, her home town. Deany, as she was called, the mother of our three wonderful children and grandmother to four and soon to be five, stood by me for 41 years, through it all, until her death in 2012. When our first child was born, by day, I worked as an oilfield roustabout, earning barely a few cents above $1.60 an hour, minimum wage, and attended vo-tech classes at night in Welding. After a severe injury, corrective surgery and rehabilitation, in 1979, I enrolled and attended at USL in Lafayette for four years, and then, after commuting daily for three more years between Kaplan and Baton Rouge, I graduated from law school in 1986. I was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, in 1983 and ranked 1st in my class and a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, in 1986 and ranked 8th in my class.
But of my many accomplishments, all of which were possible by God’s Grace, my greatest is my faith in God. I have secured and experienced true wealth, the kind you can take with you, and can not be taken away. In this respect, I am the wealthiest and most accomplished man that ever lived, because God Blessed me with a wife, who for 41 years loved and cared for me and gave me the ultimate expressions of love, three precious children, who have given me four grandchildren (soon to be five), all of whom love me and I them, and finally, all of my friends and neighbors, who also love me and I them. So, my greatest accomplishment, second only to my faith, is the love of my family and friends.
It is true, I was not born in Kaplan, but I chose Kaplan as the place where I would raise my family, the place I have called home for the past 43 years, my entire adult life, and the place my children and grandchildren know as home. I sincerely love and respect the people here, and long ago adopted Kaplan as my own, as I believe Kaplan did of me. My hope is that each of you feel the same way toward me. As for the vast majority of voters in Kaplan and Ward 9, I hold so much more in common with you than any minor differences such as place of birth.
Twenty-eight years ago I hung my “shingle,” and began my private law practice here in Vermilion Parish, and 12 years ago the people of this community elected me as their City Judge. I have always served the people of this community honorably and with respect. I feel this has not only brought honor to the office, but also honor to our community. The people of this community have been good to me, and I have prospered. For this, I owe them a debt of gratitude. I sincerely thank the citizens of Kaplan and the 9th Ward of Vermilion Parish for electing me as their City Judge for the past twelve years. It is truly an honor, and I have always protected and held dear their trust and confidence.
Now, I again, respectfully, offer myself and ask them to permit me to continue in their service for another six years, by re-electing me this November to another term as their City Judge.