NEW ORLEANS — Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said on Tuesday that three executive leaders were, "transitioned out" of the sheriff's office last Friday.
Another official, Assistant Sheriff Kristen Morales, will stay on for a, "transition period," according to Sheriff Hutson.
When asked for reasons behind the staff shakeup, Hutson spoke in broad terms about her plans for the future of the sheriff's office.
"There was no one reason," Sheriff Hutson said. "2022 to 2023 was a transition period, now we're ready to move forward ... and so that's what we are doing now."
According to multiple sources inside and outside the sheriff's office, these were the three other key law enforcement leaders who were out of a job on Friday:
- Graham Bosworth, Chief Legal Counsel
- Pearlina Thomas, Assistant Sheriff for Governance and Administration
- David Trautenberg, Chief Financial Officer.
The decision comes amid long-standing turmoil and controversies within the sheriff's office.
Some of those contentious issues were uncovered in a series of stories by Eyewitness News over high-end hotel rooms booked for deputies during Carnival, as well as the sudden and surprise private donation from a dog training company to pay for the rooms.
CFO Trautenberg had opposed booking the rooms, writing in a Feb.10 email, if "you are an OPSO employee you are not eligible to have a paid hotel room ... We have mattresses we can get from the warehouse."