JUDGE DOUGLAS J. SALOOM has served on the City Court of Lafayette, Division “B” since 1995. He was re-elected unopposed to his 5th full term in office. Before that, Judge Saloom practiced criminal defense and general civil law with the law firm of Saloom and Saloom. Judge Saloom has a B.S. degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana) in Lafayette, Louisiana (1982) and his Juris Doctorate from the Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana (1985). While at Tulane, Judge Saloom was a member of the Moot Court Trial team and the Civil Law Clinic handling pro-bono cases in the New Orleans court system his Senior year in School. Judge Saloom was a member of the Lafayette Parish Public Defenders Office for nine (9) years.

Judge Saloom is a past president of the Louisiana City Judges Association. For many years, Judge Saloom served as the Legislative Chairman of the Louisiana City Judges Association. Judge Saloom frequently testifies before Louisiana House and Senate Committees on topics involving the operation of courts as well as traffic safety issues. Judge Saloom has also testified before state commissions including the Louisiana Sentencing Commission; the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission and the Louisiana DWI Task Force. He has served as a Member of the Commission on Strategic Planning for Louisiana Courts of Limited Jurisdiction and as a liaison to the Louisiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Judge Saloom is a former member of the Louisiana Judicial College, Board of Governors. The Judicial College is responsible for the continuing education of judges in the State of Louisiana. He has also been appointed by the Chair of the Louisiana City Judges Association to be the Association’s liaison to the Judges/Lawyers Assistance Program (JLAP) a program designed to help judges and lawyers combat personal substance and depression issues. Judge Saloom was a member of the JLAP Operating Committee.

In 2012, Judge Saloom was appointed by the Louisiana Sentencing Commission to chair a working committee tasked with rewriting the OWI laws in Louisiana. His Committee’s efforts lead to a comprehensive redrafting of Louisiana’s OWI statutes which was enacted into law by Act 385 of the 2014 Legislative session. In March of 2015, for his work to streamline and strengthen Louisiana’s impaired driving statutes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) presented Judge Saloom with his second public service award. In announcing Saloom’s award, NHTSA cited his “tireless efforts to clarify and enhance Louisiana’s impaired driving statutes, thereby improving the effectiveness of the state’s criminal justice process.” He was among 12 individuals honored with the agency’s top public service award, which recognizes the outstanding contributions people make to improve highway safety throughout the country. In March of 2015, Judge Saloom was also honored by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission at its 7th Annual DWI Awards Ceremony as the “2014 Judge of the Year” recipient. LHSC recognized Judge Saloom for the programs that he helped create and thanked him for his work and dedication to making Louisiana’s roadways safer for the traveling public.

In October of 2015, the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) presented Judge Saloom with a Citizen Lawyer Award. The award was presented by LSBA President Dona K. Renegar at the Champions of Justice Reception hosted by the Lafayette Bar Association. The Citizen Lawyer Awards, originally named the Crystal Gavel Awards, were created to recognize outstanding lawyers and judges who have been unsung heroes and heroines in their communities. Recipients are selected based upon service in their local communities and in local organizations. Judge Saloom was selected to receive a Citizen Lawyer Award due to the countless volunteer hours he has given to the Lafayette Bar Association and to numerous civic and professional organizations, schools, and youth groups. Judge Saloom recognized that there are many indigent people who may be eligible for an expungement and volunteered to lead the Lafayette Bar Foundation and Lafayette Volunteer Lawyers in the creation of a pro se expungement clinic program. Judge Saloom approached the Lafayette Bar and volunteered to plan and speak at a free CLE for any Acadiana area attorneys to learn about the legislature’s changes to the laws related to expungement. He prepared materials for both the attorneys who attended as well as for members of the general public that use the Lafayette Parish Public Law Library. Judge Saloom also worked with the Lafayette Bar Association and the Acadiana Legal Services to create an attorney conflict panel to help provide legal assistance to spouses that would have otherwise not been able to obtain legal assistance in domestic matters.

In July of 2018, Judge Saloom, was appointed by the President of the Louisiana City Court Judges Association to serve on behalf of the Association as its ex-officio member of the Council of the Louisiana State Law Institute. Judge Saloom began his four-year appointment in fall of 2018. The purposes of the Institute are to promote and encourage the clarification and simplification of the law of Louisiana and its better adaptation to present social needs; to secure the better administration of justice and to carry on scholarly legal research and scientific legal work.

In September of 2018, Judge Saloom was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to be the Louisiana judicial representative on an Advisory Committee formed by the National Center for State Courts tasked with revising the NCSC State Justice Institute Municipal Courts Interactive Learning Product and Website. The NCSC was awarded a grant to support a project to assist municipal courts with promoting the rule of law and the effective administration of justice in their courts and in their communities. The Advisory Committee worked with NCSC staff to update its existing municipal courts resource website and to provide enhanced information and tools for use by municipal officials, judges, employees, and members of the public in understanding the importance of local courts and the principles that guide them.

Judge Saloom has been a member of the American Bar Association since 1985. He is past Chair of the ABA Judicial Outreach Network and Representative for District 7 of the National Conference of Specialized Court Judges’ Executive Council. Judge Saloom was also a member of the ABA Traffic Court Committee which at the time was one of the oldest standing committees in the ABA. The Traffic Committee would annually host Traffic Court programs in various cities around the United States educating judges, prosecutors, and other interested parties on traffic safety. He is also a former Judicial Division Liaison to the ABA Committee on Disaster Preparation which was formed after Hurricane Katrina.

Judge Saloom has served on the faculty of the National Judicial College, in Reno, Nevada. He was a participant in both the 2002 “Courage to Live” Louisiana program dealing with underage drinking issues and his “Buckle Up Acadiana” program teaching elementary students the importance of and the proper way to wear safety belts. Judge Saloom is a frequent guest speaker at schools of all levels, having addressed over 20,000 students since first taking office in 1995. Judge Saloom has served as a panelist at several Judicial Conferences across the United States, including recent Louisiana Judicial College, Louisiana State Bar Association, Lafayette Parish Bar Association, American Bar Association and NHTSA programs held in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Judge Saloom is active in Judicial Outreach. He has created or chaired several programs dealing with traffic safety. He chaired “Courage to Live Louisiana” which was named by the National Judicial College as the 2003 Outstanding State Program. The program continued for several years as a part of annual events sponsored by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.

One of Judge Saloom’s favorite outreach topics is the proper use of safety belts. One of his programs involves the use of local athletes, traffic safety instructors and Law enforcement personnel which he has named “Buckle Up Acadiana.” He has also created a program which he has named “I Click It! Cross My Heart” which promotes safety belt usage by awarding stickers that bear the slogan to school children as they arrive at school. To receive a sticker, the student must be seen wearing a safety belt. A program held in his hometown gave out over 8,000 stickers at nine different elementary schools and involved six different “first responder” agencies. For his commitment to traffic safety and his efforts to promote traffic safety, Judge Saloom received the 2008 Public Service Award from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). He was one of 14 honorees from across the nation and the only Judge to receive the 2008 award.

In his jurisdiction, Judge Saloom has been instrumental in the creation of additional programs for OWI offenders as well as traffic offenders. One such program involves the assigning of School Zone Speed offender to work with Crossing Guards as part of their sentence. Other programs initiated by Judge Saloom are the Variable Substance Abuse Program (VSAP), the Level II OWI Extended Program and the Alcohol and Drug Education Repeat Program, all designed to provide extended education and treatment for repeat OWI offenders. He was also instrumental in the creation of a local traffic program, Drive2Survive, where oilfield employees and supervisors are trained in detecting and preventing fatigued and impaired driving to help save the lives of their fellow employees. Judge Saloom was also instrumental in obtaining an OWI Offender program taught in Spanish to better provide substance education and services to Hispanic offenders appearing before his court.

Judge Saloom is married to Mary Margaret Bienvenu Saloom and they have 3 children: Leslie, Adam (married to Megan Jenkins), and Ethan; and two grandchildren: Andrew and Madeline (Adam & Megan). Judge Saloom, an Eagle Scout since 1975, is also the past Chairman of the Lafayette Chapter of the National Eagle Scout Association. He continues to be involved in youth sports, having over the years coached youth basketball, baseball, soccer, football and track. He carries on his love of track and field as a certified track official with the USATF Association. He is a member of the Southern and the LSU Track and Field Officials Associations and as such volunteers at several youth, high school and collegiate track meets across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. He is also an avid amateur photographer and has contributed several photographs to local newspapers, athletic website’s, and his children’s school yearbooks. Many of his pictures decorate the walls of the city courthouse in Lafayette.

Contact Information:
Post Office Box 3344
Lafayette, LA 70502-3344

Judge Jules D. Edwards, III began his service in the City Court of Lafayette, Division “A” on January 1, 2023. He also serves as Louisiana’s Judicial Outreach Liaison, teaching judges how to handle impaired driving cases, and previously served in Division “B” of the 15th Judicial District Court of the State of Louisiana from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 2020. There he served as Chief Judge of the 15th Judicial District Court from 2001until 2003 and has been a pioneer of drug courts and re-entry courts. Prior to serving on the court, he served as an Indigent Defender Attorney, an Assistant District Attorney, Counsel to the Louisiana Senate’s Select Committee on Crime and Drugs, and a partner in Edwards and Edwards Law Offices.

He was inducted into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame in 2013. Judge Edwards is also a former Chairman of the Louisiana Judiciary Commission, serving from 2013 to 2017. He also served as Vice Chair of the Commission from December 5, 2014, until April 2, 2015, and as chair of the Commission from August 21, 2015, until August 27, 2016, during which time he oversaw a major overhaul of the rules governing the procedures of the Commission. Judge Edwards was President of the Louisiana District Judges Association 2014-2015. From 2011 to 2018, he worked with the Louisiana Sentencing Commission (LSA-R.S. 15:322) to assist the judiciary and the legislature in formulating and implementing a uniform sentencing policy. He is a past member of the Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education which was created by Act 88 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature (2018 – 2020) and a past member of the Louisiana Drug Policy Board which was created by LSA-R.S. 49:219.2, (2018 – 2020), and a current member of the DWI-Task Force since 2021.

Judge Jules Edwards received his undergraduate and law degrees from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1981 and 1984, respectively. He earned a Master of Public Administration from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1994, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College in 2005. Judge Edwards enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1977 and served in the Louisiana National Guard from 1981 until 2007. He served in the Infantry, Artillery, and Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He also served as the 256th Infantry Brigade’s Inspector General and the State Judge Advocate. In 2007, he retired as Colonel of the Louisiana National Guard and was recognized as the best Staff Judge Advocate in the United States.

Judge Edwards is married to Orida and they are the honored parents of three adult children. The Judge’s motto is “Dare to Dream.”

(Retired 2020)
JUDGE FRANCIE BOUILLION was first elected as Lafayette City Judge in April of 1994. She was re-elected for a six-year term in September of 1996. She was re-elected in October of 2002, October of 2008, and again in October 2015. As judge, she presides over thousands of cases each year in criminal, civil, juvenile and traffic matters. She is known as an independent judge who applies the law in a fair and firm manner.

Judge Bouillion was formerly an attorney with the firm of Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis, and Eagan and is a former law clerk for United States District Judge John M. Duhe. After a long career as a supervisor for the Social Security Administration, Judge Bouillion decided to return to school at age 39. She attended LSU Law School and graduated second in her class. While in law school she received numerous honors and scholarships and was elected to the Louisiana Law Review and the Order of the Coif. Judge Bouillion was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the L.S.U. Law Center in recognition of her intellectual and leadership qualities.

Judge Bouillion was an Adjunct Professor at the LSU School of Law for fifteen years. She is also a past president of the Louisiana City Court Judges Association and the Acadiana Inn of Court. She is a member of the Save Our Youth Task Force, and was on the statewide Advisory Board for the Juvenile Justice Commission. Judge Bouillion is a frequent speaker at schools and community and professional organizations.

Judge Bouillion has been married to Dr. Ken Bouillion for more than 50 years. They are the parents of two sons, Tony and Ben. Ben and his wife Allison have two sons and a daughter.

(Retired 2022)
JUDGE VANESSA HARRIS is a native of Washington, Louisiana. She is a 1981 graduate of Washington High School. She graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge with a B. S. in Computer Science in 1985. She obtained her Juris Doctorate from Southern University Law Center in 1988. She has been in private practice with Harris & Harris Law Office since October of 1988 until present. She served as an Assistant District Attorney in St. Landry Parish from 1988 – 2008. She was elected in 2008 as the first African American and female judge to preside at Opelousas City Court. She retired in December of 2020. She was appointed as Judge Pro-Tempore at Lafayette City Court in December of 2021.

She is a member of the St. Landry Parish Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, Louisiana Judicial College, and the Louisiana Judicial Council – NBA.

She is married to Senic M. Batiste and has 3 daughters and 1 grandson.

JUDGE MICHELLE M. ODINET was elected to serve as judge of the Lafayette City Court, Division “A” on November 3, 2020. Prior to her election, Judge Odinet was formerly a prosecutor for both the Orleans and Lafayette Parish District Attorney’s offices, where she prosecuted juvenile delinquencies and adult felonies ranging from theft and narcotics to rape and first degree murder. She also defended indigent clients in Lafayette City Court for the Lafayette Public Defender’s Office, immediately prior to her election to the bench. She also practiced civil law with the firm Breaud & Lemoine.

Judge Odinet graduated from Newcomb College of Tulane University in 1990 with a B.A. She obtained her Juris Doctorate from the Tulane University School of Law in 1993. She is currently a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, The Lafayette Bar Association, Judges Association of the Third Circuit, Louisiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and Louisiana City Court Judge Association.