St. Landry District Attorney Asks Court to Remove Opelousas Councilman from Seat

OPELOUSAS, La. (KPEL News) - An Opelousas city councilman's job may be on the line because of where he lives.

St. Landry Parish District Attorney Chad Pitre filed a petition in an Opelousas court to remove Opelousas City Councilman Floyd Ford from office because he doesn't live in his district.

According to our news partners at KATC, Ford's address is listed in the Louisiana Secretary of State's elected officials database as being in the 800 block of Planters Street in Opelousas, but Pitre's petition alleges that Ford actually lives in the 1900 block of Meadow Run.

According to Pitre's filing in court, the petition is based on a complaint from Delita Rubin Broussard, Ford's opponent in the December run-off for the District B seat. Ford won office in 2018 and is currently running for re-election.

A hearing is set for November 30 at 9 a.m. to decide whether or not to remove Ford from office.

Broussard maintains that Ford no longer lives in the district, which is a requirement under the Lawrason Act, according to KATC, that decides how the Opelousas government is set up. The DA had to file the petition based on that information.

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The petition alleges that Pitre conducted an investigation and determined that Ford doesn't live in the city of Opelousas, but instead at the Meadow Run home, which is located outside the city limits.

The petition says that Ford claims his homestead exemption for the Meadow Run home, and that neighbors of that house will testify he lives there. The petition also alleges that neighbors of the Planters Street home will testify that Ford hasn't live there for many years.