Elmer Litchfield - Litchfield Honored

Litchfield Honored

At his retirement reception, Litchfield said that he would particularly miss his employees and the public "very much. People have been very kind."

Former State Representative Donald Ray Kennard of Baton Rouge told Litchfield: "We love you and will miss you. We are proud of you for the contributions you have made to the country, the state, and the parish." Kennard presented Litchfield with a plaque from the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Baton Rouge Police Chief Jeffery Earl "Jeff" LeDuff said that he began his law enforcement career in 1983, when Litchfield won his first of six terms as sheriff. "I’ve always found the sheriff to be a great law enforcement mind", LeDuff told the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate.

Before his sheriff's tenure, Litchfield was the executive director of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice.

Mike Barnett, a retired colonel from the Sheriff’s Office with thirty-seven years of service, said that he met Litchfield while working with the FBI as a bank robbery investigator. “Litchfield is a kind, good man and is the best of bosses,” said Barnett, who was Litchfield’s assistant and chief criminal deputy. “He gave you a job and let you do it, and he wouldn’t ask you to do anything he wouldn’t do himself."

Barnett also said Litchfield was more of a law enforcement man than a politician. Litchfield said on several occasions that if you "do the right thing, the politics will take care of the rest", Barnett said.

Silas M. Geralds, who retired from the Sheriff’s Office in 2004 after thirty-seven years of service, said that Litchfield treated everyone equally and with respect. “He demands respect and he gives respect,” said Geralds, who retired as a lieutenant colonel. “If it wasn’t for the sheriff, we (the office) wouldn’t be as forward and advanced as we are today."