Get To Know Your Candidate: Kevin O’Neill For East St. Tammany City Marshal

As voters prepare to choose the next City Marshal for the City Court of East St. Tammany, TRH News sat down with candidate Kevin O’Neill for a wide ranging conversation about his law enforcement career, his years inside the Marshal’s Office, courthouse security, spending, training and how he would lead the office if elected.

O’Neill has spent most of his adult life in law enforcement. He told TRH News that after earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, he originally envisioned spending several years in local policing before eventually moving into federal law enforcement. Instead, he stayed in Slidell.

He began as a reserve officer with the Slidell Police Department in 1984, moved into a full time position the following year and eventually retired in 2014 after rising to the rank of captain. During his career, he held assignments and leadership roles in patrol, criminal investigations, training and professional standards. O’Neill currently serves as a reserve officer with the Slidell Police Department.

One of the milestones O’Neill discussed was being selected for the FBI National Academy in 2008. He described it as one of the highlights of his career and said the relationships built through the program created a law enforcement network extending far beyond Louisiana.

After retiring from the Slidell Police Department, O’Neill did not leave law enforcement. He joined the City Marshal’s Office in January 2015 under Marshal Kevin Foltz. He served as a deputy marshal before being promoted to chief deputy marshal in 2018, the position he currently holds.

During the interview, O’Neill explained that the Marshal’s Office does considerably more than provide security inside a courtroom. Deputies screen visitors entering the courthouse, operate security equipment, maintain order during court proceedings, move documents and information between the judge, attorneys and court personnel, serve subpoenas and civil papers, handle evictions and carry out other orders issued by the court.

O’Neill said one of the lessons he has carried from his years supervising officers is that effective leadership does not mean micromanaging employees. He described his approach as establishing an objective, trusting supervisors and deputies to accomplish it and holding people accountable for the result. He also emphasized leading by example and maintaining professional standards within the office.

Training would remain a priority under an O’Neill administration. He said the office already exceeds certain minimum firearms training requirements through its relationship with the Slidell Police Department, but he wants deputies to receive additional specialized instruction when funding permits.

One area he specifically identified was updated training involving people experiencing mental health crises, particularly because deputies routinely encounter people under significant stress inside the court system.

O’Neill also discussed the financial side of running the office. He said he is involved in discussions over the budget and has reviewed both office revenue and spending, although he is not the person solely responsible for preparing it.

Among the issues he wants to address are continued technology upgrades, reducing duplication between computer systems and replacing aging vehicles. He said one possibility would be requesting a capital allocation from the city to replace several vehicles at once, while another would be establishing a gradual replacement schedule.

Courthouse security was another major part of the conversation.

When asked what he considers one of the most serious potential threats facing the courthouse, O’Neill pointed to emotionally charged cases involving the Department of Children and Family Services. He said cases involving the removal of children can create particularly volatile circumstances.

He described the current approach as identifying potential problems as people enter, screening everyone through courthouse security and positioning deputies so threats can be addressed before reaching the courtroom.

O’Neill also spoke about an aspect of the job that receives less attention: how deputies treat people while serving papers, handling evictions or dealing with residents who may already be having one of the worst days of their lives.

“It’s all how you talk,” O’Neill said during the interview.

He said deputies can often accomplish more by allowing someone to speak, listening for a few additional minutes and treating that person with respect rather than immediately escalating an already difficult situation.

That philosophy carried into one of his answers about what he would want residents to remember about his tenure if elected.

O’Neill said people who have to visit the courthouse should be greeted, helped and directed through a process that can be confusing or intimidating. His goal, he said, would be for residents to leave believing they were treated professionally and respectfully, regardless of why they had to appear in court.

Toward the end of the interview, O’Neill discussed support he has received during the campaign. His endorsements include former City Marshal Wyatt Williams, current City Marshal Kevin Foltz, and the St. Tammany Republican Parish Executive Committee, commonly known as RPEC.

O’Neill said endorsements from recognizable public figures matter, but he also pointed to something much smaller as meaningful to him: residents contacting his campaign and asking to place campaign signs in their yards.

For O’Neill, the campaign is ultimately an effort to move from the second position in an office he has worked in for more than a decade into the elected position responsible for leading it.

This article is part of TRH News’ ongoing Get To Know Your Candidate series, giving candidates an opportunity to explain their experience, priorities and plans directly to voters.