BATON ROUGE - Today, Governor Bobby Jindal announced appointments to the Louisiana Board of Ethics.

The Louisiana Board of Ethics serves to administer and enforce conflicts of interest legislation, campaign finance disclosure requirements, and lobbyist registration and disclosure laws, to achieve compliance by governmental officials, public employees, candidates, and lobbyists and to provide public access to disclosed information.

Governor Bobby Jindal said, “I thank the presidents of the independent colleges for fulfilling their duty in an open and timely manner to submit a list of qualified ethics board nominees. It was very important that this nomination and appointment process move as swiftly as possible so that the Ethics Board can resume their work upholding our strict ethics standards in Louisiana.”

According to statute, the board is comprised of 11 members, seven of whom are gubernatorial appointments and were selected from the 38 nominations submitted by the presidents of the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Inc. (LAICU). The presidents of LAICU must submit no less than three names of eligible nominees for each congressional district. The independent colleges of Louisiana include: Centenary College, Dillard University, Louisiana College, Loyola University, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Our Lady of the Lake College, Saint Joseph Seminary College, Tulane University, and Xavier University. Additionally, each gubernatorial appointment must come from a separate congressional district, and three must be attorneys licensed to practice in Louisiana for at least eight years. Also, the following gubernatorial appointments will serve the remainder of the unexpired terms.

Appointments to the Louisiana Board of Ethics:

Dr. Robert “Bob” Bareikis, of Shreveport, is the former dean of Centenary College and is currently a professor emeritus. Bareikis has a Ph.D. from Harvard University and was a captain in the United States Naval Reserve. He is also a former member of the board and will represent the 4^th Congressional District, as required by statute.

Rev. Gail Bowman, of New Orleans, is the chaplain at Dillard University where she is also an assistant professor. Bowman is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the Howard Divinity School. She will represent the 2^nd Congressional District, as required by statute.

James “Jimmy” Boyer, of Lake Charles, is a self-employed attorney with more than fifty years of experience. Boyer is a former judge advocate general with the United States Air Force and former city attorney for Lake Charles. He will represent the 7^th Congressional District, as required by statute.

Mary Dumestre, of New Orleans, is an attorney with Stone Pigman Walther Wittman LLC law firm. Dumestre is the former chair of the Hearing Committee of the Louisiana State Bar Association Office of Disciplinary Counsel and was the editor-in-chief of the Loyola Law Review.  She will represent the 1^st Congressional District, as required by statute.

Scott Frazier, of Baton Rouge, is an attorney with Kracht and Frazier LLP. Frazier is a graduate of the LSU Law School and is a member of the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge.  He will represent the 6^th Congressional District, as required by statute.

Jean Ingrassia, of Gonzales, is a retired United States administrative law judge with more than 12 years of federal experience in social security and worker’s compensation cases. Ingrassia is a former Sister of Mercy and a graduate of the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. She will represent the 3^rd Congressional District, as required by statute.

Grove Stafford, Jr., of Alexandria, is a retired attorney with Stafford, Stewart and Potter. Stafford is a graduate of Tulane Law School and is the former president of the Alexandria Bar Association. He will represent the 5^th Congressional District, as required by statute.

 Jindal Press Release