Steve Pylant

Steven Everett Pylant, Sr. (born November 25, 1954), is a former sheriff of Franklin Parish, Louisiana, who currently serves as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 20, which includes all or portions of Franklin, Caldwell, Catahoula, La Salle, and Tensas parishes in the northeastern section of his state.

Background

A native of Franklin Parish, Pylant graduated from Winnsboro High School in the parish seat of Winnsboro and attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe.^[1] Pylant and his wife, Rhonda, reside in Franklin Parish near Delhi, a town in Richland Parish, and have a Delhi mailing address. Their son is Steven Pylant, Jr.

Political career

With a dozen years of law-enforcement experience, Pylant was elected as Franklin Parish sheriff in the nonpartisan blanket primary held in 1995 to succeed the Democrat Eugene Parker. Pylant polled 5,784 votes (66.6 percent) to defeat three opponents, including the perennial candidate, L. D. "None of the Above" Knox of Winnsboro.^[2] When Pylant became sheriff, Franklin Parish still owed $8 million for its detention center, which had been completed in 1992. When Pylant vacated the sheriff's office, the department expected to have $7 million in assets. In his announcement statement for state representative, Pylant said:

We were able to give $1.5 million back to the taxpayers in the form of a half-cent sales tax and a 9.4 mil property tax. We expanded the jail at no cost to the taxpayer and brought fiscal stability to the sheriff’s department to secure its future in Franklin Parish. {We took] a hard look at how the money is spent and how we were able to increase our revenue; there are some lessons there that I think could be taken to Baton Rouge and done on a larger scale.^[3]

Pylant was succeeded as sheriff by his chief deputy, fellow Republican Kevin Wayne Cobb (born 1970) of Winnsboro, who defeated the Democrat Emmitt Coleman, 5,860 votes (80.8 percent) to 1,391 (19.2 percent).^[4]

In the primary for state representative held on October 22, 2011, Pylant, with 9,119 votes (56.3 percent), defeated the Democrat Cleveland Webb "Cleve" Womack (born 1953) of Jonesville in Catahoula Parish, who trailed with 7,066 ballots (43.7 percent). To cement his victory margin, Pylant received 71 percent of the vote in his own Franklin Parish.^[5] Pylant succeeded the Democrat-turned-Republican Noble Ellington of Winnsboro, who did not seek re-election. Pylant carried the backing of Governor Bobby Jindal, who was handily elected to a second term.^[6] Running as a Democrat in 2007, Ellington himself had also defeated Womack. At that time the district did not include any part of LaSalle Parish.^[7]

Pylant is assigned to three House committees, (1) Administration of Criminal Justice, (2) Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development, and (3) Transportation, Highways, and Public Works.^[1] The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry rates Pylant 78 percent in the 2013 legislative session but 90 percent for 2012-2013 combined.^[8]

In 2013, Pylant was one of only two members to vote against a bill to give special consideration to veterans of the armed forces who are arrested or convicted of a crime: "I support veterans 110 percent, but when someone violates the law we should be fair and impartial, no matter who they are. Everyone has problems ... I don't think it's fair to be more lenient on some than others because of their military background."^[9]

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