Changes

==Public career==

==Public career==

At seventeen, Flournoy became a deputy in the Caddo Parish sheriff's department, a position that he held from 1913 to 1928. He was hence a deputy under his father from 1913 to 1916, as were two of his brothers, James Flournoy, Jr., and George A. Flournoy.<ref name=cpso/> From 1928 to 1940, J. Howell Flournoy was a deputy Caddo Parish tax collector. In 1940, Flournoy was elected sheriff to succeed Thomas Roland Hughes (1878-1965) in the same political cycle which brought to the [[governor|governorship]] [[Sam Houston Jones]] (1897-1978) of [[Lake Charles]], who unseated Governor [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]]. Hughes, known for his arrest of the controversial blues musician Lead Belly, had succeeded J. Pat Flournoy as sheriff in 1916. As sheriff, J. Howell Flournoy in 1940 organized the Caddo Parish Selective Service Board and trained an internal security group in Shreveport during [[World War II]]. He spearheaded a measure to establish a pension and relief fund for sheriff's department employees.<ref name=sjobit/> From 1950 until his death, except for one year, Flournoy headed the Louisiana Sheriff's Pension and Relief Fund.<ref name=lahist/>

At seventeen, Flournoy became a deputy in the Caddo Parish sheriff's department, a position that he held from 1913 to 1928. He was hence a deputy under his father from 1913 to 1916, as were two of his brothers, James Flournoy, Jr., and George A. Flournoy.<ref name=cpso/> From 1928 to 1940, J. Howell Flournoy was a deputy Caddo Parish tax collector. In 1940, Flournoy was elected sheriff to succeed Thomas Roland Hughes (1878-1965) in the same political cycle which brought to the [[governor|governorship]] [[Sam Houston Jones]] of [[Lake Charles]], who unseated Governor [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]]. Hughes, known for his arrest of the controversial blues musician Lead Belly (1888-1949), had succeeded J. Pat Flournoy as sheriff in 1916. As sheriff, J. Howell Flournoy in 1940 organized the Caddo Parish Selective Service Board and trained an internal security group in Shreveport during [[World War II]]. He spearheaded a measure to establish a pension and relief fund for sheriff's department employees.<ref name=sjobit/> From 1950 until his death, except for one year, Flournoy headed the Louisiana Sheriff's Pension and Relief Fund.<ref name=lahist/>

Flournoy often received commendations for his work in law enforcement from [[J. Edgar Hoover]], director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]. The defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'' afternoon newspaper referred to Flournoy, accordingly, "A well-known [[conservative]] and a spokesman for patriotism, Sheriff Flournoy spent his entire adult life striving to improve his department in all fields of duty and speaking out against anything or any group which he felt posed a threat to Americanism. The sheriff and his department, ranked among the best and were often copied by other similar law agencies ... he was also recognized for his well-known work with youth, including his Junior Rifle Program, nationally acclaimed.<ref name=sjobit/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jeffersonian.name/g1962/G0962.pdf|title=Junior Rifle Clubs – Action, not Words|publisher=''Guns'' ([[magazine]])|date=September 1962|author=Robert Dyment|pages=31, 48|accessdate=September 26, 2014}}</ref>

Flournoy often received commendations for his work in law enforcement from [[J. Edgar Hoover]], director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]. The defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'' afternoon newspaper referred to Flournoy, accordingly, "A well-known [[conservative]] and a spokesman for patriotism, Sheriff Flournoy spent his entire adult life striving to improve his department in all fields of duty and speaking out against anything or any group which he felt posed a threat to Americanism. The sheriff and his department, ranked among the best and were often copied by other similar law agencies ... he was also recognized for his well-known work with youth, including his Junior Rifle Program, nationally acclaimed.<ref name=sjobit/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jeffersonian.name/g1962/G0962.pdf|title=Junior Rifle Clubs – Action, not Words|publisher=''Guns'' ([[magazine]])|date=September 1962|author=Robert Dyment|pages=31, 48|accessdate=September 26, 2014}}</ref>