More on the Lafayette DA

District attorney releases pretrial diversion list

Just a few days after The Daily Advertiser pointed out the existence of a state law that requires the district attorney to keep a list of people admitted to his pretrial program, District Attorney Mike Harson created and released the list.

On May 3, The Daily Advertiser submitted a public records request to Harson for a list of everyone who was arrested for operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and who completed or was terminated from his pretrial diversion program in the past five years.

The FBI is investigating Harson’s office, allegedly for its handling of some OWI and pretrial diversion cases. The FBI confiscated several case files from the offices of two of his employees. Harson said they were mostly traffic-related, particularly OWI cases.