Changes

|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]

|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]

|office=District Attorney for Grant Parish

|office=District Attorney for Grant Parish

|term_start=Missing

|term_start=January 1, 1973

|term_end=November 15, 1980

|term_end=November 15, 1980

|preceded=Sam L. Wells

|preceded=Sam L. Wells

|succeeded=Joe Beck, II

|succeeded=Joseph P. "Joe" Beck, II

|office2=Judge of the 35th Judicial District (Grant Parish)

|office2=Judge of the 35th Judicial District (Grant Parish)

|term_start2=January 7, 1984

|term_start2=January 7, 1984

|term_end2=March 1, 1994

|term_end2=March 1, 1994

|preceded2=Wilbur Teal "Brandy" McCain

|preceded2[[Wilbur T. McCain (Louisiana politician)|Wilbur Teal "Brandy" McCain, Sr.]]

|succeeded2=

|succeeded2=

}}

}}

==Background==

==Background==

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>

One of four children of Paul E. Lutes, Sr., (1908-1984) and the former Clara Sheets (1905-1997), with two brothers surviving, Paul, Jr., and Johnny, 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> His sister, Mary Louise Lutes Harlan (1928-2017), was a registered nurse from Pineville who was born in Black Rock in Lawrence County in northeastern [[Arkansas]]. She was the widow of Jack T. Harlan<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=mary-louise-lutes-harlan&pid=186950810|title=Mary Louise Lutes Harlan|publisher=''[[Alexandria Town Talk]]''|accessdate=October 17, 2017}}</ref> (1926-2015), a native of Montgomery in Grant Parish and a State Farm [[insurance]] agent in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Harlan&GSfn=Jack&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1148&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=143982000&df=all&|title=Jack T. Harlan|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 17, 2017}}</ref>

In 1960, Lutes married the former Virginia Lee Marler (1935-2017), daughter of a prominent Colfax couple, James Everett Marler, I (died 1979), and the former Wilma Bunch (1906-1995). The Luteses had two children, both of Colfax, Julianne Despino (born March 14, 1962) and husband Randall Holden Despino (born March 8, 1961), and Billy Lutes, II (born March 31, 1964), and wife Cheryl Denise Lutes (born October 25, 1966).<ref name=obit/>

In 1960, Lutes married the former Virginia Lee Marler (1935-2017), daughter of a prominent Colfax couple, James Everett Marler, I (died 1979), and the former Wilma Bunch (1906-1995). The Luteses had two children, both of Colfax, Julianne Despino (born March 14, 1962) and husband Randall Holden Despino (born March 8, 1961), and Billy Lutes, II (born March 31, 1964), and wife Cheryl Denise Lutes (born October 25, 1966).<ref name=obit/><ref name=herobit/>

==Judicial career==

Lutes served as district attorney for Grant Parish 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>  

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/>

Beck, who became acting DA when Lutes stepped down, pledged in the campaign to reduce the backlog of cases in his office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/216262931/|title=Acting Grant DA Pledges to Cut Backlog if Elected|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=March 3, 1981|page=4|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref>Beck went on to defeat Kennedy in the special election to choose a successor for the three years remaining in Lutes' term. A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Lutes was elected in 1983 as district court judge, a post which he held from January 7, 1984,<ref name=sworninasjudge>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/216156581/|title=Billy G. Lutes Is Sworn In As 35th District Court Judge |publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=January 8, 1984|page=28|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref> until his resignation 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 was sworn in as judge by Jeannette Theriot Knoll (born 1943), then a judge of the Louisiana Circuit Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit in Lake Charles and later a justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court in [[New Orleans]]. She became acquainted with Lutes when she was an assistant DA for Avoyelles Parish. Knoll mentioned "several occasions" in which she worked with Lutes on criminal cases: "Billy is a man of integrity and legal ability qualities that are needed in a judge. ... He assumes "a great judicial task. The people of Grant Parish are very privileged to have such a man as Billy Lutes to serve as their judge."<ref name=sworninasjudge/>  

 

 

Beck, who became acting DA when Lutes stepped down, pledged in the campaign to reduce the backlog of cases in his office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/216262931/|title=Acting Grant DA Pledges to Cut Backlog if Elected|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=March 3, 1981|page=4|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref> Beck went on to defeat Kennedy in the special election to choose a successor for the three years remaining in Lutes' term. A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Lutes was elected in 1983 as district court judge, a post which he held from January 7, 1984,<ref name=sworninasjudge>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/216156581/|title=Billy G. Lutes Is Sworn In As 35th District Court Judge |publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=January 8, 1984|page=28|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref> until his resignation 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 was sworn in as judge by Jeannette Theriot Knoll (born 1943), then a judge of the Louisiana Circuit Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit in Lake Charles and later a justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court in [[New Orleans]]. She became acquainted with Lutes when she was an assistant DA for Avoyelles Parish. Knoll mentioned "several occasions" in which she worked with Lutes on criminal cases: "Billy is a man of integrity and legal ability qualities that are needed in a judge. ... He assumes "a great judicial task. The people of Grant Parish are very privileged to have such a man as Billy Lutes to serve as their judge."<ref name=sworninasjudge/>  

In 1986 the Louisiana Supreme Court let stand Judge Lutes' initial disqualification of Ellison J. Odneal (born October 10, 1948)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/ellison-odneal/e622717570002|title=Ellison Odneal|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref> as a candidate for mayor of Colfax.

In 1986 the Louisiana Supreme Court let stand Judge Lutes' initial disqualification of Ellison J. Odneal (born October 10, 1948)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/ellison-odneal/e622717570002|title=Ellison Odneal|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}</ref> as a candidate for mayor of Colfax.

A voter filed suit to block Odneal from the ballot on the grounds that Odneal was not a qualified elector of the municipality because he did not live within the city limits. Odneal contended that he owned a residence within the city limits at the time of candidacy filing. In his appeal to the circuit and Supreme Court, Odneal claimed that an error was made in Lutes' court regarding  provision which requires a timely hearing on the issue in the district court.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/216625329/|title=Louisiana High Court Lets Stand Candidate's Disqualification|publisher=''Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=March 4, 1986|page=3|accessdate=September 17, 2017}}</ref>

A voter filed suit to block Odneal from the ballot on the grounds that Odneal was not a qualified elector of the municipality because he did not live within the city limits. Odneal contended that he owned a residence within the city limits at the time of candidacy filing. In his appeal to the circuit and Supreme Court, Odneal claimed that an error was made in Lutes' court regarding  provision which requires a timely hearing on the issue in the district court.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/216625329/|title=Louisiana High Court Lets Stand Candidate's Disqualification|publisher=''Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=March 4, 1986|page=3|accessdate=September 17, 2017}}</ref>

The Luteses and Marlers are interred at Colfax Cemetery.<ref name=herobit>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=virginia-lee-marler-lutes&pid=186639369|title=Virginia Lee Marler Lutes|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=September 14, 2017}}</ref>

 

The Luteses and Marlers are interred at Colfax Cemetery.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=virginia-lee-marler-lutes&pid=186639369|title=Virginia Lee Marler Lutes|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=September 14, 2017}}</ref>

==References==

==References==