The Louisiana Legislative Auditor's office has accused a former Evangeline Parish public defender of overpaying himself.
After receiving complaints, investigative auditors accused former chief public defender Alex Chapman of paying himself $66,194 in excess between July 2016 and March 2020, going against the Louisiana Public Defender Board rules that all salary increases require board approval. The auditor said Chapman violated his contract with the board, state law and the Louisiana Constitution.
Current chief public defender Trisha Ward told LLA her office obtained an attorney to recover the funds paid to Chapman and that her office has implemented measures to prevent overpayment in the future. Ward worked as a public defender under Chapman.
"These are public funds," Ward said, "the public wants to know that we are using funds as regulated."
The LLA told Ward the office was conducting an investigation in December, she said. The LPDB noticed the discrepancy prior to Ward becoming chief public defender in 2021.Â
Chapman said he was unaware of the changes made to annual contracts district defenders are required to sign until early 2020. LLA said Chapman told auditors, "...although he signed the yearly contracts with the LPDB, he did not read them in their entirety.
"In the third year of the contracts, it got slipped in. Two sentences. And yeah, It makes me look bad as a lawyer that I didn't read every single word, but I didn't," Chapman, now retired, said.Â
He said he is aware he paid himself over his capped salary of $56,500. Once he realized he was overpaying himself; he stopped. However, he said, he would not return the money.Â
Ward said she could not speak to the validity or strength of Chapman's legal arguments. It is her duty to the public to recoup the funds, she said. Any other legal actions or consequences taken against Chapman would be at the discretion of the LPDB.Â
Responding to the LLA, Chapman wrote that he is protected by , a legal term in contract law. The term means to be compensated justly for work even it if was not part of the original contract.Â
"I did the work. I was in good faith. When you're in good faith, you do services, you ought to get paid for it," Chapman said.Â
 created the Louisiana Public Defender Board to oversee local public defense offices. At first, Chapman's new role as chief public defender offered him "czar" status of hiring, firing and compensation in his district, he said. LPDB has consolidated power over the years — requiring chief defenders to sign contracts and setting salary caps, he said.Â
Act 307 which created the LPDB has not substantially changed since its inception, Ward said. She said she could not speak to whether there was a period when salary did not require board approval. Ward was in law school when the LPDS was formed. Â
"The part that has to do with local control versus what was being ceded to the state to my knowledge hasn't changed. I couldn't speak to what was put into practice initially," Ward said.
In 2021, Louisiana lawmakers attempted to  but the attempt died in senate committee.Â
Chapman raised his pay because of extra work he took on after one of his contract attorneys quit abruptly, he said.
At the time, Chapman said, he was under the impression he could compensate himself for the extra work — so he did. In 2016, he gave himself a $1,362 monthly salary increase. In 2018, he increased his salary another $1,500 a month, telling auditors that the second raise occurred because he thought he could set his salary.
"I stopped paying myself more than what the contract called for. I also cut back on my duties. I've been paying myself this amount of money to do A, B, C, D and E. I'll pay myself what I'm capped at but I'm going to stop doing E."
Chapman resigned in 2020 and entered private practice until 2023 when he retired. Since his departure, the office has implemented controls and added accountability to ensure public funds are used properly, Ward said. The office hired an accountant that handles payroll and bookkeeping.
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