Dear Citizens of the City of Slidell and all of Wards 8 & 9:
 

It is with great pride that I, along with our staff and legislative leaders, commenced the process of renaming our Court. Our great City of Slidell and Wards 8 & 9 continue to expand both in population growth and technology. For a number of years, citizens of our community have expressed confusion as to which citizens can avail themselves of the City Court both in terms of legal proceedings and election contests. It is with that concern in mind that the process to rename our Court to more fully represent its jurisdictional boundaries began. 
 

Let me begin by explaining the process undertaken to determine the need and support for an amendment to our name. As you are aware, our Court covers all of Wards 8 & 9, which is essentially all of East St. Tammany Parish. In order to obtain and maintain clear focus in this process, I reached out to and spoke with our political leaders in Slidell, Pearl River, St. Tammany Parish Government and Council Members with Districts that include Wards 8 and/or 9, law enforcement and members of our judiciary.

 

It is with the utmost respect and appreciation that I requested and received input from each of our leaders in response to advancing this process. At present, our legislative leaders, Representatives Bob Owen, Mary Dubuisson, and Senator Sharon Hewitt, have advanced the necessary legislation through the House Judiciary Committee, the full House, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and now the full Senate. Once the legislative process is completed the bill will advance to our Governor for signature.
 

It is equally as important that I explain the anticipated impact of our amended name to: 
 

The jurisdictional boundary of the Court and its jurisdictional authorities will remain unchanged. Our physical location in the great City of Slidell will remain unchanged. What will change, however, is the clarity for all of our citizens in East St. Tammany.
 

Explanation as to the name: 
 

Our roots are embedded in the great City of Slidell and remain so. We are the only City Court in East St. Tammany Parish. The reason the word “Parish” is not included in the proposed name is because we are not a “Parish” Court, pursuant to Louisiana law, and as such, did not want to cause confusion. We believe the proposed name change will provide clarity for our citizens of Wards 8 & 9. The retention of the words “City Court” is necessary because we remain a City Court as defined under Louisiana law. Our Marshal’s jurisdiction and jurisdictional boundaries, which are the same the Court’s, will remain unchanged. The funding sources for the Court will remain unchanged.