[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Judge Perry Nicosia resigns to run for district attorney

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish Judge Perry Nicosia resigns to run for district attorney
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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on August 19, 2014 at 5:40 PM, updated August 19, 2014 at 6:46 PM

St. Bernard Parish Judge Perry Nicosia on Tuesday resigned his seat to run
this fall for district attorney. The three-day qualifying period for the
Nov. 4 election begins Wednesday.

Judges are not eligible to run for any elective office other than their own
or another judicial office, according to state law. In order to run for a
non-judicial office, they must resign from the bench at least 24 hours prior
to the date of qualifying.

Nicosia, 47, a Democrat, said he submitted his resignation to the state
Secretary of State on Tuesday morning. Longtime District Attorney Jack
Rowley has not yet publicly stated whether he will run again for the post. 

All five St. Bernard judicial seats are up for reelection in November. While
judicial terms are six years, Nicosia only served four years because he took
over the remaining term of former Judge Wayne Cresap, who resigned in
October 2009 after pleading guilty to a kickback scheme. 

Nicosia was sworn in to office as the Division C judge for the 34th Judicial
District Court in St. Bernard on Feb. 26, 2010. He was the lone candidate
who signed up for the office when the seat came open, and so he was elected
after no one else qualified for the position.

The state Supreme Court is expected to appoint an ad-hoc judge to fill
Nicosia's seat until a new judge is elected this fall.

Rowley, 83, is serving his sixth term as district attorney, a post he first
won in 1979. Previously, he was St. Bernard's sheriff for 17 years. Rowley,
who very rarely speaks to the press, has yet to publicly discuss his plans
for the fall election.

Nicosia's announcement Tuesday was written with the tone of a candidate who
doesn't expect the incumbent to run.   

"I commend the commitment and service of our District Attorney Jack Rowley,"
Nicosia's statement said. "He has served in that office for 35 years, and he
deserves our gratitude for his longtime dedication to public service."

Nicosia's statement also said that if he's elected in the fall, he would
modernize the district attorney's office, take a more aggressive stand
against violent criminals and target violent repeat offenders.

Prior to serving on the bench, Nicosia had served on the St. Bernard School
Board since January 2007 and as an attorney with the law firm Nicosia,
Licciardi and Nunez. One of his partners in that law firm, Randy Nunez, was
elected as parish clerk of court in November 2011.

Nicosia graduated from the University of New Orleans in 1989 and from Loyola
Law School in 1992, according to his Tuesday announcement. He is married
with three children.