New Vermilion, Acadia D.A. happy with his new job

CROWLEY - Though he is only five weeks into his first term as district attorney for the 15th Judicial District, Keith Stutes gives the impression of a man who is both accessible and “hands-on.”
Both are qualities that he vowed to bring to bring to the office during his campaign.
“There’s an excitement and energy that I don’t recall seeing here before,” said Stutes during a Monday interview. “For the first time in my career I’m excited on returning to work on Mondays.”
Following a long and often bitter campaign, Stutes seemed very relaxed as he discussed the 32 assistant district attorneys that work in his Lafayette-Acadia-Vermilion Parish area.
Scott Privat, Jack Nickel, Burleigh Doga, Angie Wagar and Kim Hayes are the ADAs who work in the Acadia Parish Courthouse.
“I’m very happy about the collection of assistant district attorneys we have,” said Stutes. “They have all been very willing to crossover and help each other out if a situation calls for it.”
Stutes mentioned that any concerns he may have had about having so many former defense lawyers working for him have subsided.
“In fact, their experience seems to have helped them become strong prosecutors,” he said.
Privat, Doga and Nickel are all former defense attorneys. Privat, in fact, was in the office during the interview and agreed with Stutes’ about the energy level increasing.
“Things have been going great,” he added.
Asked how far the office is from being where he hoped, Stutes said, “We’re really not that far away.”
“The staff here has been really good and I haven’t heard many complaints (about the transition),” he added. “When I came in I told them I really didn’t concern myself with who they supported in the election. I wanted to make sure that they had a strong commitment to the office, which everyone I’ve seen seems to have.”
Stutes said that the staff members were a key to the success of the district attorney’s office.
“Some of them have been here for a long time,” he said. “They really are our backbone.”
Stutes went on to discuss the pre-trial intervention program that he will be implementing. He said that he didn’t care much for using the term “diversion” because it gave the impression of a form of trickery being used.
“This (the program) is for those who we feel could become rehabilitated, productive citizens,” he said. “In the big picture, we are hoping that those who take part in it are people we never have to see in a courtroom again.”
Stutes said that people who are offered the opportunity to enter the program have to qualify. Among the qualifications are that a defendant must be a non-violent, first-offender and possess a willingness to undergo substance abuse counseling if required.
“And, of course, they have to be people who are receptive to the idea of making their lives better,” he added.
One of the traits that Stutes promised the district attorney’s office would possess during his campaign was transparency.
Former District Attorney Mike Harson’s office was hit with a number of accusations following a ticket-fixing scandal which forced two of his employees to leave their positions.
Stutes seems to be standing by his promise.
“Hopefully, within the next month we will have a website up and running which will let people see what we are doing, what we have done and where we are headed,” he said. “We want people to know what we are doing up here.”
And, though the transitional period may still be ongoing, Stutes reiterated that he was truly enjoying himself in his new position.”
“I’d like to extend this honeymoon period for as long as I can,” he said with a laugh.