NEW ORLEANS — Preparing for her historic inauguration Monday as Louisiana's first African-American female to be elected sheriff, Susan Hutson says she is eager to get started. And, according to her, looking ahead to a steeper-than-anticipated learning curve.
Hutson granted WWL-TV an exclusive on-camera interview as she prepares to take over a jail under a federal consent decree and history as one of the most troubled jails in America.
Incumbent sheriffs in Louisiana don't often lose re-election bids. But Hutson rode a progressive wave of criminal justice reform and catapulted herself from 11 years as the city's independent police monitor into the sheriff's office.
The sheriff’s main job is overseeing the city's 1,438-bed jail, the Orleans Justice Center. While the jail population now sits at only 914, most of the inmates are violent felony suspects with long rap sheets. And because of chronic understaffing due to the job challenges and historically low pay, deputy turnover is high and many positions are unfilled.
The glass ceiling that Hutson shattered has not been lost on her. Visiting a church shortly after her surprise election victory, she says there was a poignant moment that helped put her win into perspective.
Visiting a church right after her surprise election victory, she says there was a poignant moment that put her win into perspective.
“The pastor pointed to some little girls, some little African-American girls, and said, ‘This woman is the first African-American woman to be sheriff in the entire state. And because she did that, you can do that. And they were like, ‘Ohhhh.’ And that's where it really hit home.”
The sheriff's campaign was low-key, but at times bitter, especially for a race that didn't include many policy differences. But there was one big one: the plan to build a separate facility, known as Phase Three, to house inmates with mental illness. Gusman supports it; Hutson opposes it.
But Hutson will be fighting an uphill battle. The construction of the stand-alone facility has been ordered by U.S. District Judge Lance Africk, who is overseeing the 2012 consent decree the sheriff’s office agreed to in the settlement of a lawsuit that alleged years of sub-standard jail conditions.
Hutson maintains that a new $50-million dollar building is too costly, especially for a cash-strapped city. She suggested on the campaign trail that a wing of the existing jail can be retrofitted for the same purpose at a lower cost.
“I'm going to follow the court's order,” she said. “But there's also a process to, a legal process to try and reverse that order. And that's what we're going to continue to do, to work to not build Phase Three.
Hutson said she has spent the past five months working with a transition team and listening to the community. What hasn't gone as smoothly, she said, is cooperation from outgoing Sheriff Marlin Gusman.
“We've had some cooperation from the sheriff and at times we have not,” she said. “But nothing is going to stop us. Nothing. So I just have to wait a little longer to find out all the information that I need.
Hutson said that because of the less-than-robust cooperation, she will meet some of her top jailers for the first time when she shows up for work next week.
“I was not able to meet people who are employed there, like at the jail, so I could go watch them. No, that wasn't part of the cooperation process,” she said.
Gusman and his transition chief sharply dispute Hutson’s version of events. They said that the sheriff gave Hutson his cell phone number and told her to reach out any time she had questions or needed assistance.
They said Hutson rarely reached out.
“I only got two cell phone messages from her,” Gusman said. “I believe they got everything they asked for.”
While Hutson said she will take time to assess the command staff she is inheriting, she has already named members of her executive team. One name raised some eyebrows. Kristen Morales tapped to be Hutson’s deputy sheriff for information and technology, was fired last year from the New Orleans Inspector General's office for giving office property – a cell phone – to a private individual. Morales appealed her dismissal, but it was upheld, with the Civil Service Commission questioning Morales’ candor.
Hutson said she knows Morales both personally and professionally and has no qualms about naming her to her staff. She said she was impressed by her professionalism and work ethic ever when the two worked together before the Police Monitor’s office underwent an acrimonious split from the IG’s office.
“There are two sides to every story,” Hutson said. “And I hired her because she has the skillset and the excellence in her work.”
Hutson says she will run her office the way she ran her campaign: listening to the public and being transparent. On a private note, she says she will draw strength from her family, who are traveling from California and Texas to be with her for her historic moment.
Hutson said that as she takes her oath of office on her family bible, her thoughts and emotions will turn to the spirit of her deceased mother, who shared a home with her in New Orleans.
“My mother came here to live with me in 2016 and she died here in New Orleans,” Hutson said. “So she's not here with us. She's here in spirit. But my dad will be here. My brother will be here. My three sisters will be here. We'll be here together. And I know she's going to be here with us in spirit.”