Lambert Boissiere Jr. is retiring from New Orleans' First City Court Constable's Office, where his family has held the office since 1997, and voters now have to pick between the departing constable's own cousin and a local business owner who says it's time for an outsider. Constable Lambert Boissiere Jr., 83, announced in August that he would retire from the post he has held since 2005, setting up a race to succeed him that has narrowed down to two Democrats: chief deputy Kristi Boissiere August and businessman Willie Jones.
While four candidates initially qualified to succeed Boissiere, the field has narrowed to just these two contenders, according to NOLA.com. The office they are vying for represents the entire east bank of New Orleans, handling evictions, executing seizures, issuing court orders and serving subpoenas — duties that make it, per the same report, the largest constable or marshal jurisdiction in Louisiana.
A Family Legacy Versus a Challenger's Pitch
August, 61, is Boissiere's cousin and currently serves as his second-in-command, a role the report lists formally as chief deputy of the First City Court of New Orleans. She has spent 26 years at the Constable's Office, and she has leaned on that tenure as the core of her campaign, saying she is the most qualified candidate based on more than two decades of leading and improving office operations.
Jones, 60, owns Emerge Solutions LLC, a project management and consulting company, and lives in New Orleans East. He has framed the race differently, arguing that more could be done in an office he says has long been controlled by one family. The same NOLA.com account notes that Jones accused August of benefiting from nepotism and accused the Boissiere family of trying to prevent an outsider from taking the office, while also claiming that August's relatives pushed her to run after Boissiere announced his retirement.
August Leans on Endorsements and Record
August has picked up endorsements from the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee and Mayor Helena Moreno, the outlet reports. Even with that institutional backing and her family connection to the outgoing constable, August has said she wants voters to judge her on her own merits. “I'm asking voters to support me because of my qualifications and my record,” she said, per the same account — adding that she is proud of her family's legacy but wants her surname set aside when voters weigh the choice.
On policy, August says she plans to continue modernizing the office with improved technology and streamlined operations, while also focusing on community engagement and public education about civil legal matters. Her campaign site, electkristibaugust.com, states that she will continue modernizing operations, invest in deputy training and expand community partnerships. She has also said that people are involved on both sides of every civil matter the office handles, a framing she's used to explain her emphasis on public education.
Jones Proposes New Divisions and Added Training
Jones brings a varied résumé to the race. The NOLA.com report describes him as a business owner, licensed minister and reserve deputy with the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, and he has twice run statewide — for lieutenant governor in 2019 and again in 2023, placing a distant second to Billy Nungesser both times. He has also run for state representative and for New Orleans City Council District D.
Jones has proposed building out a reserve division to promote community engagement, alongside an environmental division aimed at tackling illegal dumping and commercial blight. He has also said the office could help law enforcement agencies with code enforcement and that he would implement additional sensitivity training so deputies can better handle evictions — proposals that go beyond what the office currently offers, he argues. On his campaign site, williejonesnola.com, Jones says he will promote transparency, improve communication and support professional training, adding that technology, training, communication, organization and sound management should be used to improve service delivery and office operations.
The Boissiere Era and What Comes Next
The office has stayed within one family for nearly three decades. Lambert Boissiere Jr. succeeded his son, Lambert Bossiere III, who was first elected constable in 1997, before the elder Boissiere took over in 2005 and has served ever since — more than 20 years in the role, per NOLA.com's reporting. Jones has served on the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee representing District E since 2012, according to his campaign website, giving him his own long-running presence in local Democratic politics even as he positions himself as the outsider in this race.
New Orleans voters will decide the race this fall, with early voting running from today, October 20, through October 27, and Election Day set for Tuesday, November 3, according to Jones's campaign site. Louisiana law places the office within a six-year election cycle tied to congressional elections, and it is the qualified voters within the First City Court's jurisdiction who will determine whether the office stays with the Boissiere family through August or goes to Jones, a business owner promising new divisions and expanded services.
