BATON ROUGE, La.—Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry named Wilbur “Bill” Stiles as his chief deputy last month, saying Stiles will bring extensive legal experience to the position while helping achieve his goal of establishing an office that the people of Louisiana can have confidence in.
“Mr. Stiles is a veteran prosecutor with more than a decade experience of getting justice for victims,” Landry recently told the Louisiana Record. “He also has over a decade of experience of training law enforcement officers.”
Stiles most recently served as assistant district attorney in the 16th Judicial District of Louisiana and previously served as district director for the 3rd Congressional District of Louisiana. A graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana and the Louisiana State University Law Center, Stiles is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and deployed during the first Persian Gulf War with the aircraft carrier U.S.S. America.
“I trust and expect that Mr. Stiles will work with the Department of Justice staff to ensure we have an honest, ethical and hardworking agency,” Landry said.
Stiles will have to be confirmed by the Louisiana Senate before taking office.
Landry, a Republican, was a vocal critic of previous Attorney General Buddy Caldwell for using “his political letterhead and his office for personal political gain and gamesmanship,” stating in a February 2014 press release announcing his candidacy, “Time and time again we are seeing major public policy decisions driven into our courts both with expensive mandates from Washington bureaucrats to other issues here at home.”
Landry, who was sworn in to office on Monday, said his goal as he takes office is to create a firm trust in the attorney general's office in the people of Louisiana.
“All cases, investigations and contracts started in the previous administration will be reviewed to ensure they meet our state's legal requirements,” Landry said. “Our office will adhere to the Constitution and uphold the rule of law. We will be an office that works for the people of Louisiana, not special interests. My top priority is to give Louisiana an agency that our people can rely upon to have justice served. We want to reform the office into one that efficiently and effectively fights federal overreach, supports economic liberty and makes our communities safer. By doing so, we will make Louisiana an even better place to live, work and raise our families.”