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Scandal involving two of Nix's assistants rocketed his administration in July 1981. [[Charles E. Thompson]], the deputy superintendent for special education, was a native and former superintendent of Tensas Parish, also in northeastern Louisiana. Henry Leroy Smith, Jr. (1931-2012), originally from [[North Carolina]], was from 1976 to 1982 the assistant superintendent for special education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theadvocate/obituary.aspx?n=henry-leroy-smith&pid=155776801|title=Henry L. Smith|publisher=Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, February 5, 2012|accessdate=March 10, 2014}}</ref> Thompson and Smith were [[Indictment|indicted]] on ten counts by a [[grand jury]] in Baton Rouge in an alleged [[kickback]] scheme. The two were charged with shaking down the International Management System of [[Missouri]] to pay a percentage of its contract price from the state of Louisiana into a pool or a "kitty" in which the money was divided among Thompson, Smith, and a third man, Edward G. Ackal, a businessman from Lafayette,<ref>"Nix keeps deputies on payroll," ''[[Minden Press-Herald]],'' July 31, 1981, p. 1.</ref> whose company Educational Products Corporation was engaged in the sale of goods and services to the state government.<ref name=courtcase/>​

Scandal involving two of Nix's assistants rocketed his administration in July 1981. [[Charles E. Thompson]], the deputy superintendent for special education, was a native and former superintendent of Tensas Parish, also in northeastern Louisiana. Henry Leroy Smith, Jr. (1931-2012), originally from [[North Carolina]], was from 1976 to 1982 the assistant superintendent for special education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theadvocate/obituary.aspx?n=henry-leroy-smith&pid=155776801|title=Henry L. Smith|publisher=Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, February 5, 2012|accessdate=March 10, 2014}}</ref> Thompson and Smith were [[Indictment|indicted]] on ten counts by a [[grand jury]] in Baton Rouge in an alleged [[kickback]] scheme. The two were charged with shaking down the International Management System of [[Missouri]] to pay a percentage of its contract price from the state of Louisiana into a pool or a "kitty" in which the money was divided among Thompson, Smith, and a third man, Edward G. Ackal, a businessman from Lafayette,<ref>"Nix keeps deputies on payroll," ''[[Minden Press-Herald]],'' July 31, 1981, p. 1.</ref> whose company Educational Products Corporation was engaged in the sale of goods and services to the state government.<ref name=courtcase/>​

The grand jury claimed that Thompson, Smith, and Ackal conspired to split $360,000 of an $889,000 contract to International Management System. The contract was issued to test thirty thousand preschool children to determine how many qualified for expanded special education under terms of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, signed into law by [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]] in 1975. All three were found guilty of defrauding the taxpayers, lost their appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in [[New Orleans]], and served prison sentences.<ref name=courtcase>{{cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/706/f2d/523/united-states-v-g-ackal-l-ce|title=UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Edward G. ACKAL, Henry L. Smith and C. E. "Ed" Thompson, Defendants-Appellants. No. 82-3243. United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. May 23, 1983. Rehearings and Rehearing En Banc Denied July 18, 1983|publisher=openjurist.org|accessdate=February 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/|title=Click Edward G. Ackal, Henry L. Smith, and Charles E. Thompson for prison release dates of December 20, 1985, January 2, 1986, and January 23, 1986, respectively|publisher=Federal Bureau of Prisons|accessdate=March 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>Billy Hathorn, "Education in Tensas Parish, Louisiana: Desegregation, Re-Segregation, and the Continuing Decline in School Enrollments, 1970-2017" ''North Louisiana History,'' Vol. 49 (Winter-Spring 2018), pp. 34-35, 44.</ref>

The grand jury claimed that Thompson, Smith, and Ackal conspired to split $360,000 of an $889,000 contract to International Management System. The contract was issued to test thirty thousand preschool children to determine how many qualified for expanded special education under terms of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, signed into law by [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]] in 1975. All three were found guilty of defrauding the taxpayers, lost their appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in [[New Orleans]], and served prison sentences.<ref name=courtcase>{{cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/706/f2d/523/united-states-v-g-ackal-l-ce|title=UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Edward G. ACKAL, Henry L. Smith and C. E. "Ed" Thompson, Defendants-Appellants. No. 82-3243. United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. May 23, 1983. Rehearings and Rehearing En Banc Denied July 18, 1983|publisher=openjurist.org|accessdate=February 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/|title=Click Edward G. Ackal, Henry L. Smith, and Charles E. Thompson for prison release dates of December 20, 1985, January 2, 1986, and January 23, 1986, respectively|publisher=Federal Bureau of Prisons|accessdate=February 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>Billy Hathorn, "Education in Tensas Parish, Louisiana: Desegregation, Re-Segregation, and the Continuing Decline in School Enrollments, 1970-2017" ''North Louisiana History,'' Vol. 49 (Winter-Spring 2018), pp. 34-35, 44.</ref>

===Defeat in 1983===

===Defeat in 1983===