Legislative Report

Ethics exemption for top cop’s son wins House OK

by The Associated Press

Photo by Wakalani/Wikimedia

The Louisiana House has agreed to carve out a special ethics exemption for the son of the state police superintendent.

Under the proposal, Louisiana's anti-nepotism laws would be rewritten to let the son of Col. Kevin Reeves continue working as a state trooper even though he hadn't been with the agency for a full year as required by ethics law.

The measure would move the employment requirement to four months for a trooper whose immediate family member becomes agency leader. The House voted 92-1 Wednesday evening for the bill by Rep. Jack McFarland, a Winnfield Republican.

Gov. John Bel Edwards named Reeves interim state police superintendent in March, and Reeves says he's interested in seeking the job permanently.

McFarland's bill heads next to the Senate.