With the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s election later this year, Zack Simmers announced he is taking a leave from his current duties in the office to focus on campaigning.
Simmers announced on social media that he is leaving the sheriff’s office effective Feb. 15 ahead of the upcoming election.
“Reaching this point has taken a lot of thought, soul searching and discussions with my wife, family, and friends for two reasons,” he wrote in the letter. “First, I believe the Sheriff’s Office needs to move in a new direction and transparency is needed to regain the trust and support of the citizens of West Baton Rouge Parish. Second, I believe taking leave is the right thing to do so that you know my commitment to the task of campaigning for sheriff,” he added.
The sheriff office’s lack of transparency has been questioned recently with the arrest of deputy Mandy Miller. Miller was arrested last week and charged with five felonies after allegedly stealing over $158,000.
Since the arrest last week, sources tell Unfiltered with Kiran that the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office launched an internal investigation into WBRSO employees to determine if anyone is leaking any information on this particular case to the media.
UWK has repeatedly called Sheriff Mike Cazes to get updates on this case, but no one answers or responds to calls or texts.
The two people who were authorized to speak to the media are Simmers & Dale Simoneaux, Cazes’ son-in-law, both of whom are running for sheriff in 2023. Because of the upcoming election, there was an alleged internal battle within the agency that if one spoke to the media more, one would be getting additional publicity and that’s why now, neither are permitted to speak to the media.
Simmers said he is using the next two weeks to wrap up his current workload before he takes the leave.
Simmers currently serves as a public relations deputy and liaison to the district attorney’s office. He is running against Simoneaux, who is the sheriff department’s chief of operations.
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