Longtime Washington Parish chief deputy, Scott Blair, has announced that he is officially a candidate for the office of sheriff in the upcoming election on Oct. 24.

Born in Franklinton and a lifelong resident of Washington Parish, Blair is the son of Jewell Blair and the late Roxanne Blair Burris. He is married to Susan Jones Blair and they have four sons, Jay, Matt, Michael and Zach. They are also the proud grandparents of four. The Blairs are members of the Varnado United Methodist Church and reside in the Varnado community.

Blair studied criminology at LSU and SLU, and also graduated first overall from the LSU Law Enforcement Academy. Since then, he has completed courses and seminars, including Law Enforcement Leadership and Administration, Interrogation and Investigative Techniques, Hostage Negotiations, Illegal Gambling Techniques and Carnival Fraud, and Jail Leadership.

A former board member of the Capital District Law Enforcement Planning Council, Blair was an Executive Committee member at the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association. He has served on the board at the Franklinton Country Club and the Washington Parish Fair Committee. He acted as the incident commander for first responders at the Bogalusa chemical spill and was the director of the Washington Parish Drug Task Force.

Blair’s plans for the department include restoring the DARE program in all the parish schools, to educate our youth on the dangers of drugs and gangs, and to help prepare our youth by sponsoring summer camps and activities. He plans to increase the patrol fleet back to a minimum of five units per shift, house detectives in both the Franklinton and Bogalusa offices, place patrol cars at the parish schools during student arrival and departure hours, and continue the fight against drugs and violence with the Drug Task Force as well as state and federal agencies. An aggressive full-time grant-writer will be hired to secure increased funding from state and local grants.

With more than 17 years of experience at the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, Blair stresses that he is not a politician or a member of the political clique. He is an experienced and well-trained law enforcement officer and administrator. He believes he can lead the Sheriff’s Office in a fair, impartial and professional manner, and will demand the same from all employees.