Jimmy LeBlanc (Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections)
One of the country’s longest-serving prison system leaders will leave his position running the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections next week.
James “Jimmy” LeBlanc spent 16 years overseeing the state’s prisons in an era when Louisiana consistently had the highest rate of incarceration in the world. In total, he has worked in the state’s correctional facilities for 51 years, starting his career in 1973 at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel.
In a resignation letter submitted Friday, LeBlanc, who is 75 years old, said he was stepping down to focus on his health. On paper, he will return to a job as the warden at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, but LeBlanc will take an immediate leave of absence once moving into that role, he wrote.
LeBlanc is liked by both local law enforcement officials and advocates for people who are incarcerated. Even a few former inmates of the Dixon Correctional Institute, where he worked as a warden for 12 years, have described him as approachable.