by: Victoria Cristina Jul 30, 2020
METAIRIE, LA – Former Federal and Jefferson Parish prosecutor Chris Cox announced his candidacy for the 24th Judicial District Court Division “B” seat, being vacated this fall by Judge Cornelius “Conn” Regan.
Chris Cox is 48-years-old. He is a graduate of Jesuit High School, Louisiana State University, and Tulane Law School.
He resigned his post as the Executive Assistant District Attorney in Paul Connick’s office on Friday to begin his campaign for judge of the 24th JDC. As the Executive Assistant DA, Cox served as general counsel and managed a $22 million budget and the 255-member department’s finances and personnel matters. Under Connick, Cox previously served as a liaison between the Jefferson Parish DA and the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association, an organization that develops policy for DAs across the state.
Cox also managed asset forfeiture civil litigation. As a lead assistant to the DA, Cox was selected to serve on the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Committee.
Said Cox, “I will manage the docket in a manner that will move cases quickly and efficiently. I will work with attorneys in pre-trial conferences to move cases to resolution as quickly as possible. My rulings will be based solely on law, and I will not deviate from the law as it is written. We have a strong and safe community that relies heavily on the criminal justice system. I have been part of that system for most of my career, and I am prepared to continue to serve as a judge who knows the law well and how to apply it fairly.”
Before joining the DA’s office, Cox, a Republican, was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Jefferson Parish by former Parish President John Young, a position he held from 2010 until 2014. As COO, Cox led 35 parish departments, 3,000 employees and a $420 million operational budget, and he oversaw the proposal of $65 million in capital projects to the Jefferson Parish Council. He also helped propose changes to the parish charter as a member of a 15-person committee responsible for analyzing the Jefferson Parish Home Rule Charter.
Cox was also an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Louisiana who secured over 65 indictments taking dangerous criminals and drugs off Louisiana streets for nearly six years as a member of that office’s Violent Crime Unit.
From 2000 until 2004, as an Assistant District Attorney in Jefferson Parish, Cox tried 54 felony jury trials and tried over 50 additional felony and misdemeanor judge trials. In his early career, Cox, an inactive Certified Public Accountant, worked in the tax department of Arthur Andersen LLP’s New Orleans office, and he clerked for a federal judge for one year immediately after graduating from law school.
Active in his community, Cox serves as an Adjunct Professor at Tulane Law School. He is a member of the St. Thomas More Catholic Lawyers Association, the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants, and the Jefferson Bar Association. Cox previously served as President of the Jesuit High School Alumni Association and remains a supporter of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization in which he attained the rank of Eagle Scout.