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February 5, 2014
A veteran prosecutor with the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney’s Office has thrown his name into the race for the soon-vacant District Court Judgeship.
Terrebonne Parish Assistant District Attorney Juan W. Pickett announced this week that he will seek District Judge Timothy C. Ellender’s seat in this fall’s election.
Ellender is mandated to retire at the end of his current term.
Pickett has been an ADA for more than 20 years. He said he would step down from the position over the summer to run for the judge position.
It will be Pickett’s first attempt at being a public official.
“I think I am extremely qualified for the job,” he said. “I’ve been a prosecutor for 20 years. I’ve been doing civil and criminal work for over 20 years. I think I’m fair and I think I have integrity. For someone in this position, I think citizens’ want someone who knows the law and is fair. I think I can provide those things as a judge.”
Pickett said he received an undergraduate degree from Virginia Union University in Richmond, Va., majoring in business administration.
From there, he graduated cum laude from the Southern University Law Center in 1993 – passing the Louisiana State Bar Exam in the same year.
During his time as a Terrebonne ADA, Pickett said he has prosecuted thousands of cases, including homicides, rapes, sexual assaults, burglaries and drug offenses.
“I always wanted to be a judge,” he said. “When you’re a kid and you decide to be a lawyer, I think you always figure that you’ll be a lawyer for a while and then make that jump forward to become a judge. I think that for me, now is that time.”
In a press release, Pickett touted that he is active in the community. He was elected by his peers to serve as the president of the Terrebonne Bar Association in 2010.
The local prosecutor also serves as a commissioner for the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District.
Pickett has been married to Bernadette Robinet Pickett for more than 20 years. The couple has one daughter, Jessica, a sophomore at Vandebilt Catholic High School.
Mrs. Pickett is also a practicing attorney in Terrebonne Parish.
Juan W. Pickett
