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A son of Paul E. Lutes, Sr., (1908-1984) and the former Clara Sheets (1905-1997), he enlisted in the [[United States Army]] and served in an engineering battalion in the [[Korean War]]. Thereafter, he attended the [[Baptist]]-affiliated Louisiana College in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] and then earned law degrees from both Loyola University in [[New Orleans]] and the [[University of Mississippi]] at Oxford. In addition to his Colfax law practice, he owned and operated Lutesville Sand and Gravel Company, which makes asphalt and ready-mix concrete for the construction industry.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Lutes&GSfn=Billy&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=23593336&df=all&|title=Billy Gene Lutes|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 14, 2017}}</ref>

A son of Paul E. Lutes, Sr., (1908-1984) and the former Clara Sheets (1905-1997), he enlisted in the [[United States Army]] and served in an engineering battalion in the [[Korean War]]. Thereafter, he attended the [[Baptist]]-affiliated Louisiana College in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] and then earned law degrees from both Loyola University in [[New Orleans]] and the [[University of Mississippi]] at Oxford. In addition to his Colfax law practice, he owned and operated Lutesville Sand and Gravel Company, which makes asphalt and ready-mix concrete for the construction industry.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Lutes&GSfn=Billy&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=23593336&df=all&|title=Billy Gene Lutes|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 14, 2017}}</ref>

    

    

Lutes was elected district attorney in 1972 and served until his resignation on November 15, 1980. He was succeeded by his law partner, Joe Beck, II. A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Lutes was elected in 1980 a judge of the district court, a post from which he retired in early 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/218065675/|title=District Judge B. G. Lutes resigns|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=March 5, 1994|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref>

Lutes was elected district attorney in 1972 and served until his resignation on November 15, 1980. In the special election to choose Lutes' successor as DA, Robert Kennedy, an opponent of Lutes' interim successor and former law partner Joe Beck, II, of Pollock, questioned how the DA handled a shooting on Egg Farm Road on November 30, 1979; one five men involved eventually pleaded guilty to negligent homicide. Lutes' handling of the Bobby Ray Brown case came under fire when attorney Kennedy claimed that Brown should have been prosecuted for two deaths before his later indictment for manslaughter in connection with a barroom brawl. Kennedy further claimed that brutal crimes were not prosecuted because of what he called "laziness or incompetence."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/216344586/|title=Candidates for DA in Grant Exchange Stinging Criticisms|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk|date=April 2, 1981|page=1|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref>

 

Beck, who had succeeded Lutes when the DA stepped down, defeated Kennedy in the election to choose a successor for the three years remaining in Lutes' term. A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Lutes was elected in 1980 a judge of the district court, a post from which he retired on March 1, 1994, at the age of sixty-three.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/218065675/|title=District Judge B. G. Lutes resigns|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=March 5, 1994|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref>

Lutes sat on the boards of the  Alexandria Country Day School in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], Louisiana, and of the Kisatchie Delta Law Enforcement agency. He was a member of the Masonic lodge and a Shriner. He was an [[Eagle Scout]] and past den leader of the Attakapas Council of the [[Boy Scouts of America]] at Alexandria Country Day School. He was a board member of St. Philip's [[Episcopalian|Episcopal Church]] in Boyce in northwestern Rapides Parish.<ref name=obit/>

Lutes sat on the boards of the  Alexandria Country Day School in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], Louisiana, and of the Kisatchie Delta Law Enforcement agency. He was a member of the Masonic lodge and a Shriner. He was an [[Eagle Scout]] and past den leader of the Attakapas Council of the [[Boy Scouts of America]] at Alexandria Country Day School. He was a board member of St. Philip's [[Episcopalian|Episcopal Church]] in Boyce in northwestern Rapides Parish.<ref name=obit/>