Civil Sheriff

League of Women Voters^®
of New Orleans

Paul R. Valteau, Jr.

NAME: Paul R. Valteau Jr., Incumbent
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR PUBLICATION: Lea Young
Address: 421 Loyola Ave. room 403 New Orleans LA 70112
Phone: 504-679-6406
FAX: 504-679-6383
Email: youngl@civilsheriff.com
Website: http://www.civilsheriff.com
PARTY AFFILIATION: Democrat
PROFESSION: Attorney
PRESENT EMPLOYER/POSITION (if self-employed, what type of business): Civil Sheriff's Office/ Sheriff
HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION (include graduation date): Juris Doctor Loyola University 1972
APPLICABLE TRAINING: Ongoing annual CLE classes and seminars, law professor at Xavier University 1974-82, attorney for the Legislature 1973-75, attorney for Civil Sheriffs' Office prior to running for that position
CIVIC EXPERIENCE: Chaired many campaigns for non-profits such as: The United Way Campaign, United Negro College Fund Telethon, St. Augustine High School Olympic Torch Run, Tennessee Williams Literary Festival, Boy Scouts Sheriffs' Camp, New Orleans Scholarship Foundation, Sugar Bowl, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Black Arts National Diaspora, National Council of Negro Women to name a few. In 1986 I organized the civil Sheriffs' Reserve Deputies Association as a non-profit service organization. Over the last 21 years they have worked with other non-profits such as Special Olympics, Dollars for Scholars, Cafe' Reconcile, besides adopting numerous public schools with Partnerships in Education, boarding hundreds of crack houses, providing food baskets and toys to the needy at Christmas. The estimated value of the monies and time volunteered in this community by the RDA is $5 million dollars.
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: I will have served 6 full terms as Orleans Parish Civil Sheriff as of May 1, 2006.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS: Active member of the Democratic party, served as a delegate to the National Democratic conventions in 1984 and 1988. Member in good standing with the Louisiana Sheriffs' Assn., The National Sheriffs' Assn., Louisiana Bar Association, National Bar Association, and the International Union of Huissiers de Justice.
1. What significant challenges does this office face after Katrina?
We are meeting the challenge! During the storm our enforcement deputies provided security as requested by the City Homeland Security Director including providing security at City Hall, the Superdome, and rescuing citizens from flooded premises. We established satellite offices in Baton Rouge and Gonzales. We worked diligently with FEMA to ensure housing for our First Responder Deputies which task is virtually completed. Revenue of the Office has been reduced by 3/4 of its Pre-K levels. Only _ of the Pre-K staff remains employed at this time. Workloads have been combined in order to cover all aspects of our office duties. We continue to serve the litigating public by performing all of our constitutionally mandated functions of the office including serving legal documents, auctioning property, providing security in public buildings, and enforcing child custody judgments and restraining orders. The law enforcement component of the office has been reconstructed without compromising safety in the public buildings for which the OCS provides security.
2. How could the responsibilities and funding of this office be effectively combined with the duties of the Criminal Sheriff?
Only in Orleans Parish are the civil and criminal court systems separated by location and by function. Present "consolidation" legislation keeps that system in place. In other parishes while there is only one Sheriff, there is also only one District Court which handles both civil and criminal matters in the same parish courthouse, usually adjacent to the parish jail. Without true consolidation of the courts as is the case in other parishes, consolidation of the two Sheriffs offices will be more cosmetic than real. The only similar function of the two offices is service of process. This function could be combined, but only if the courts' docket systems were combined. Total computer system consolidation would be very costly. A new consolidated courthouse would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The Civil Sheriff's Office operates strictly on self-generated fees. The Criminal Sheriff is primarily funded by per diem fees paid by governmental agencies using space for their prisoners. These revenue streams would not be affected by consolidation, nor does the source of those funds exceed that of funds received by parishes with only one sheriff. However, public opinion and the Legislature appear to be poised to pursue consolidation , and if that is the will of the public and the legislature, I will work diligently to ensure it is an efficient and professional transition.
3. How do you plan to use the internet to facilitate the auctioning of abandoned properties?
Our office is very current with Internet activities. We have maintained a FREE user friendly, web site (http://www.civilsheriff.com) for the last 6 years. We provide pictures of the real estate and movables to be auctioned along with the property location with directions and maps. We offer free monthly seminars on how to purchase auctioned properties. What we auction is by court order only, which neither includes nor excludes abandoned properties. We collect millions in delinquent property taxes for the City at our foreclosure sales as a service to the City although it is not our constitutional mandate, and offer similar assistance for the City's sales of abandoned property.

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