St. Tammany Has Seen A Remarkable Turnover Of Its Most Powerful Leaders

Over the span of several years, some of the most recognizable names in St. Tammany Parish government and public institutions have disappeared from the positions they once led.

A former sheriff is serving a life sentence. His successor resigned after pleading guilty to criminal charges. The sheriff’s second-in-command resigned one day before him. The parish library director resigned. Two elementary school principals left their positions and later pleaded guilty to charges connected to failures to report child abuse. And now the superintendent of one of Louisiana’s largest public school systems has abruptly retired while the School Board prepares to consider an independent investigation into district practices.

The circumstances surrounding each departure are different, and there is no evidence that they are connected.

Jack Strain

For more than two decades, Jack Strain was one of the most powerful elected officials in St. Tammany Parish.

Strain served as sheriff from 1996 until 2016, when Randy Smith took office after defeating him in the 2015 election.

His story did not end when he left office.

Years later, Strain was prosecuted in two separate criminal cases. He was convicted in 2021 on sex-crime charges involving boys and later sentenced to life in prison. He also pleaded guilty in a separate federal corruption case involving a work-release program.

Strain therefore should not be described as having resigned or been removed as sheriff. Voters removed him from office at the ballot box before the criminal cases that would later dramatically reshape his legacy.

Randy Smith

The man who defeated Strain eventually experienced his own dramatic departure from the Sheriff’s Office.

Randy Smith served as sheriff for more than a decade before resigning in June 2026 following an incident at Keith Young’s Steakhouse in Madisonville.

Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree battery and disturbing the peace. His resignation became effective June 24.

The resignation immediately created a vacancy in one of the parish’s most powerful elected offices, resulting in Bret Ibert taking over as interim sheriff while St. Tammany prepares to elect Smith’s permanent replacement.

Jeff Boehm

Smith wasn’t the only person at the top of the Sheriff’s Office to leave.

Chief Deputy Jeff Boehm, then the agency’s second-ranking official, announced his resignation just one day before Smith’s departure.

The Sheriff’s Office said Boehm made the decision after careful consideration and believed stepping aside was in the best interest of the agency and its deputies.

Within roughly 24 hours, St. Tammany’s sheriff and chief deputy were both leaving the agency.

Bret Ibert was elevated to chief deputy and then became interim sheriff following Smith’s resignation, while George Cox was subsequently promoted to chief deputy. WDSU

Kelly LaRocca

Leadership turnover wasn’t limited to law enforcement.

Kelly LaRocca resigned as director of the St. Tammany Parish Library in 2025.

Her departure forced the Library Board of Control to launch a search for a new leader of the parishwide library system.

The board ultimately selected Trevor Collings in January 2026, and he took over the system the following month. St. Tammany Library

The change came after the library itself had already spent years at the center of contentious public debates over books, parental rights, library policies and the composition of its governing board.

Tanya Barth And Lauryn Faciane

Then came turmoil inside the St. Tammany Parish Public School System.

Former E.E. Lyon Elementary principals Tanya Barth and Lauryn Faciane were criminally charged in cases involving failures to report child abuse.

Both ultimately pleaded guilty.

Their cases became part of a much larger public debate about how allegations involving children were handled within the school system and whether the problems extended beyond individual administrators. WDSU

Parents packed a School Board meeting in September demanding answers and changes.

Some residents went considerably further, publicly calling for changes in district leadership.

Frank Jabbia

Then came another major departure.

On Sept. 30, Superintendent Frank Jabbia announced his immediate retirement after more than 32 years with St. Tammany Parish Public Schools.

Jabbia had spent his entire professional career in the district, rising from teacher and coach to administrator, principal of Northshore High School and ultimately superintendent in 2020. St. Tammany Parish Public Schools

His retirement came as controversy surrounding the district’s handling of child-abuse reporting continued to intensify.

Parish President Mike Cooper publicly acknowledged that timing when responding to Jabbia’s departure.

“As Frank announces his retirement, we recognize his 32 years of dedicated service and the contributions he has made to our schools,” Cooper said.

Cooper also noted that the retirement came amid serious allegations that he said needed to be thoroughly reviewed.

The St. Tammany Parish School Board is now scheduled to consider hiring an independent firm to examine school sites and the central office, including compliance with administrative procedures, communication and mandatory-reporting requirements. WDSU

Jabbia has not been charged with a crime, and his retirement should not be equated with the circumstances surrounding Smith, Strain or the former Lyon principals.

Even The Coroner’s Office Has Faced A Leadership Crisis

The parish’s recent instability has extended beyond officials who actually left office.

Christopher Tape took over as St. Tammany Parish coroner in 2024 despite widespread demands that he resign before beginning his term.

Those demands followed reporting about decades-old child sexual-abuse charges against Tape in New Mexico. The charges were dismissed after a court determined his speedy-trial rights had been violated, meaning the allegations were never adjudicated at trial and Tape was not convicted in that case.

The St. Tammany Parish Council unanimously called on Tape to resign, as did other elected officials. Tape nevertheless took office. WDSU

His tenure quickly became embroiled in another controversy when he moved to discontinue the Coroner’s Office’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program, prompting legal and political battles.

Different Stories With One Common Result

There is an important distinction that cannot be lost in looking at this history.

Jack Strain losing an election and later being convicted of serious crimes is not the same thing as Randy Smith resigning after a guilty plea.

Neither is equivalent to Kelly LaRocca resigning from the library system or Frank Jabbia retiring after a 32-year career.

And Christopher Tape remains in office despite calls for his resignation.

There is no evidence these events are part of some connected scandal.

What connects them is simply the result:

St. Tammany Parish has experienced an enormous amount of turnover, controversy and transition among the people running some of its most important institutions.

The sheriff who replaced Strain is gone.

The chief deputy who served beneath Smith is gone.

The library has a new director.

Two former elementary school principals pleaded guilty.

The school superintendent has retired.

The School Board is preparing to vote on an independent investigation.

And voters are preparing to select another sheriff.

For a parish of nearly 300,000 people, these aren’t obscure administrative positions. They are officials entrusted with law enforcement, schools, libraries and other institutions residents interact with throughout their lives.

Individually, every departure has its own story.

Collectively, they raise a much larger question for St. Tammany Parish:

Why has so much of the parish’s leadership changed in such a short period of time?