Bossier Parish Police Jury – Now and Then

 In Bossier Parish, the highest local authority is the Bossier Parish Police Jury (BPPJ), administrating the parish from the Parish Courthouse in Benton. For many people, local government has become something abstract and nebulous, lost in the sea of attention paid towards national affairs. However, local governments, like the BPPJ, will affect you more in your day-to-day life than anything on the national scale. In Louisiana, Police Juries hold similar authority to County Commissions in other states. Originally founded via a state legislative act in 1811, the powers of police juries were expanded to function as proper legislative-executive bodies after the granting of statehood to Louisiana. Parishes were divided into wards, with each ward electing a juror to that parish’s police jury as their local representative. Functionally, police juries are granted broad local powers by the Louisiana state constitution. Some of these powers include the levying of taxes and enacting/enforcing local ordinances and regulations. When it comes time to elect police jurors, the elections are held during odd years under an open primary system, ensuring that police jury races are not lost in the excitement surrounding larger national elections. Police juries elect a president and vice-president from amongst themselves, tasked with leading the body.

      

                              

The current twelve members of the BPPJ are President Glenn Benton, Vice-President Tom Salzer, Lynn Beaty, Phillip Rodgers, John Ed Jordon, Julianna Parks, Chris Marsiglia, Jimmy Cochran, Doug Rimmer, Pam Glorioso, Julian Darby, and Keith Sutton. The BPPJ is also joined by an administrative staff that works with the Police Jury to see to the implementation of the body’s agenda, advising the police jury as needed. The BPPJ administrative division is made up of the Parish Administrator, who is tasked with running the day-to-day organization of the Police Jury, the Parish Secretary, tasked with record keeping for the Police Jury and assisting with the agenda in a variety of ways, and the Parish Treasurer, who is tasked with managing the budget and assets of the BPPJ. There are a further twelve divisions under the BPPJ umbrella, all of which exist to ensure that the Parish government can serve the public. While some parishes, such as Caddo Parish, have moved away from the police jury system, Bossier Parish has maintained the BPPJ as its legislative-executive body.

The Bossier Parish Police Jury began with the parish in 1843. When the jurors first met on June 19, 1843, they did so in a small cabin located at what is today the Bayou Bodcau Reservoir, the Long/Durden house. While there is some confusion as to who was the first BPPJ president, the names of the jurors are known: William Crowley, William Burns, Isaac Lay, B. J. Williams, Joseph Graham, John C. Scott, Andrew J. Lampton, and J. A. W. Lowey. According to Parish Historian Clif Cardin’s 1993 book, “Bossier Parish History The first 150 years, 1843-1993,” William Crowley was the first police jury President. However, according to “History of Shreveport and Shreveport Builders, Volume Two,” which contains a section specifically about Bossier Parish, it was William Burns who first presided over the Jury. The eagle-eyed among you will notice there are only eight jurors, compared to the twelve of today. When the parish was initially founded, the population was obviously much lower than it is today, and as the parish grew, so too did the need for more members. Regardless, it was there at that little cabin that these first jurors would select the new parish seat of ‘Freedonia’, which would later become known as Bellevue. The initial courthouse, not the cabin where the police jury first met, was built sometime before 1845 as a wood structure, before being replaced with a brick courthouse in 1853. The parish would remain there until the late 1880s, when the vote was held to move the parish seat to the current home in Benton.

Today, located on Highway 157 in Bellevue, there is a historical marker commemorating the first Bossier Parish Police Jury meeting and the then town of Freedonia. While the seat and building may have changed, the Bossier Parish Police Jury has led Bossier Parish for over 182 years, here’s to 182 more.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• 1853 Map of Bossier Parish (BPL-HC Record 1997.008.001)
• Only known full photo of 2nd Bellevue Courthouse (BPL-HC Record 0000.004.114)
• Police Juror Henry Mitchell in-front of the Durden House during restorations (The Shreveport Times, Nov. 30, 1998, photo by Mathew Minnard)
• 1st Police Jury Meeting Historical Marker (The Bossier Press, May 06, 1964, photo by Bill McFarland)

Article by: Jonah Daigle

Bossier Parish’s 20th Flagaversary

Flags have been used since ancient times and were originally used mainly in warfare. Today, flags are used as a symbol, a signaling device, or for decoration. One of the most popular uses of a flag is to symbolize a nation or country. In the United States, every state, territory, and federal district has a unique flag, representing the uniqueness of each.

While every state territory and federal district honors the United States flag, you can think of state flags like a first name and the U.S. flag as the last name. Each flag has deep symbolism that speaks to the history of the state, territory, and federal district—each utilizing different styles and design principles.

Each state is made up of municipalities, counties/parishes, cities, towns, and villages. Some of these municipalities have a flag, and others do not. Those which do, display a variety of regional influences and local histories to show pride and symbolize some unique aspect of the area. Louisiana has 64 parishes and 303 municipalities, but like most states, not all of them have a flag.

Twenty years ago, Bossier Parish adopted its first official flag through a contest that was open to middle and high school students throughout the parish. The contest was in response to a Lincoln Parish schoolteacher's campaign to have all parishes adopt an official flag. Police Juror Jeff Rogers initiated the contest, and in announcing the contest, he said, "We won't limit the type of design or colors because we want to use the creativity of students."

Each school held a contest and selected its winners. These winners became semifinalists in the parish-wide contest. The semifinalists were whittled down to three finalists by a Police Jury committee. Then, the full Police Jury selected the grand prize winner, announcing the winner in June of 2001.

The winner was Jennifer Hankins, a Benton High School senior. A Shreveport Times article that announced her as the winner stated that she "worked on her piece for two weeks, completing it with a little help from her family and art teacher, Rose Ann Holomon." Hankins had just started taking art a couple of years before and loved painting with oil pastels. Holomon stated that "Hankins possesses raw talent that can take her into art professionally."

Hankins' flag design won because it best represented the parish. The flag has a green background with a white triangle going from the hoist to the end of the fly. The middle is an outline of the sun with deep red-orange rays along its border, symbolizing the warm climate. In the sun's center are other symbols of the area, including water, a crawfish, the parish seal, an outline of Bossier Parish pinpointing the Parish Seat of Benton, and the dogwood flower.

When announcing the contest, Rogers, stated "The winning student artist will receive a savings bond of at least $100 and will have his or her flag design displayed in a case in the courthouse's main hall. A plaque will list the winner's name and the school the student attends."

What do you want to know about Bossier Parish's history? Or, perhaps you have important information or artifacts about Bossier Parish History that you would like to share. Donations are a large part of our collection and are vital in helping us preserve Bossier Parish's history. Visit, call or email the Bossier Parish Library History Center for help with your research. We are at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City, 318-746-7717, history-center@bossierlibrary.org.

By: Amy Robertson

Bossier Parish's First Librarian

Portrait of Mary Elisabeth Williams by A. Menosco.
Bossier Parish Library Collection: 2000.093.001.

Before the first Bossier Parish library opened its doors, Elisabeth Williams was already working behind the scene to establish the public library system in this parish. After earning her degree in Library Science from the University of Illinois, she began her career in Tennessee at the Cossitt Public Library in Memphis. Then she worked for the Louisiana Library Commission in Baton Rouge and opened and operated the demonstration library in Arcadia as the Bienville Parish librarian.

Opening and operating demonstration libraries involved much more than ordering, cataloging, and shelving books. A vital role as the head librarian was the promotion of the library. Williams would speak to groups of people throughout the parish to explain the importance of having a public library and how to obtain books.

At a Lions Club meeting, “She explained how this new service is being provided to the people of the entire parish – through branch libraries in Benton, Bossier City, Plain Dealing, Haughton and Elm Grove (the latter having been opened two weeks ago) and a regular weekly ‘bookmobile’ tour of the parish, covering 300 miles and serving all of the smaller communities of the parish.”

Elisabeth Williams (left) and Jessica Boatner (right) providing books to children
in Bossier Parish's first bookmobile. Source: The Shreveport Times, Feb. 14, 1941.

“She also explained that library service of this type costs about $15,000, or about a one-mill tax per year. This year, however, the service is being provided as a demonstration project, with the State Library Commission, the WPA and the Bossier Parish Police Jury cooperating.” She urged that the police jury be requested to vote a special tax to support the library, and she encouraged citizens to get behind the library to make it permanent.

With the demonstration period scheduled to end on Sept. 1, 1941, the Bossier Parish Police Jury felt the urgency to secure the public library’s continuance. On June 12, 1941, the following announcement appeared in the Bossier Banner. “The Bossier Parish Police Jury held a regular meeting, at the Court House, in Benton, Tuesday afternoon of this week, at which time it was voted to levy a half-mill tax, for 1941 and 1942, to continue the Bossier Parish Library system for more than a year.

“A delegation of more than 25 women and men, from every section of the parish, appeared before the Jury to speak in favor of the library. It was decided not to call a special one-mill tax election for the library’s support. Considerable discussion was had before the vote was taken and only one juror voted against the final motion.”

Williams continued as the head librarian of Bossier Parish until she retired in 1967. Before her retirement, she “went on to found the Red River Parish Library in 1962-63 and she administered the two-parish library system.” She was a member of the American Library Association, the Louisiana Library Association, and the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. She was president of the Caddo-Bossier Library Club and the business manager of the Louisiana Library Association’s publication, ‘The Bulletin.’

The Bossier Parish Library has proudly provided access to an array of materials, programs, and technologies that inform, educate, and entertain the residents of this great parish for the past eighty years. To learn more about the Bossier Parish Library’s history, visit the BPL History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.