Retired 16th Judicial District Court Judge William D. Hunter, who was one of the early pioneers of the drug court movement in Louisiana, died on July 24, 2023 at the age of 85.
Judge Hunter started the 16th Judicial District Adult Drug Court in St. Mary Parish in 1997, which is believed to be among the nation’s first drug courts. The 16th JDC Drug Court later expanded to Iberia Parish in 1998 and St. Martin Parish in 2002. For his efforts in establishing drug treatment courts in Louisiana, Judge Hunter received national recognition. As a testament to the success of these programs, currently Louisiana’s Drug and Specialty Courts include 31 Adult Drug Courts, seven Juvenile Drug Courts, nine Family Preservation/Intervention Courts, seven Reentry Courts, three Behavioral Health/Co-Occurring Courts, nine Sobriety/DWI Courts, and five Veterans Courts among the 71 operational specialty courts in Louisiana in 2022.
“Judge Hunter’s innovation, dedication, and belief in rehabilitation has served countless people in Louisiana while saving souls and an astronomical amount of state funds related to incarceration,” said Chief Justice John L. Weimer. “When I served as a district court judge in Lafourche Parish, we patterned our drug court after Judge Hunter’s program due to the success of the treatment-based model provided by specialty courts.”
Judge Hunter served as a judge on the 16th JDC from 1995 until his retirement in 2008. He received a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and his LL.B. degree from LSU Law School. He served as a Law Clerk at the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana from 1963-1964. He was in the private practice of law with Lippman, Hunter & Rawls from 1964-1977, and Hunter & Plattsmier from 1978-1994, where he practiced law alongside Chuck Plattsmier, who now serves as Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel.
“I had the privilege of working with Bill as his law partner for 15 years,” said Plattsmier. “He quite literally taught me how to practice law. To this day he was the finest trial lawyer I’ve ever seen. His compassion and concern for his clients was real and was evident later to those who appeared before him when he became a judge. He left our legal profession and our system of justice better.”
Judge Hunter was a member of the American and Louisiana State Bar Associations; the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges; the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association; member and Past President of the St. Mary Parish Bar Association; Chairman of the Louisiana Association of Drug Court Professionals; Chairman of the Task Force of Louisiana Drug Court Issues; National Co-Chairman on Study and Implementation of Drug Court Laws in the U.S.; and received the 1998 National Association of Drug Court Professionals Leadership Award.
Louisiana’s Drug and Specialty Courts operate under the guidance of the Louisiana Supreme Court through the Supreme Court Drug and Specialty Court Office (SCDSCO). Funds for Louisiana’s drug and specialty courts are primarily appropriated by the Louisiana Legislature and administered by the Supreme Court Drug and Specialty Court Office. The SCDSCO awards funds annually to programs and monitors each program’s operations throughout the year.
Louisiana Supreme Court Mission: To preserve the integrity of the judiciary, to build and maintain public trust, to provide effective and efficient administration of justice in the Supreme Court, to ensure proper administration and performance of all courts under Supreme Court authority, and to ensure the highest professional conduct, integrity, and competence of the bench and bar.