Term Ends: 2026
Party: I
Ashley Paul Thomas is a judge for the 37th Judicial District in Louisiana. He was elected on November 4, 2014, and re-elected in 2020. His current term expires at the end of 2026.
Thomas attended Northeast Louisiana University where he earned an associate degree in Criminal Justice. In 1993, he took a full-time position serving as a Deputy Sheriff with the Caldwell Parish Sheriff’s Department and continued to pursue his education at NLU. In 1995, he graduated from NLU with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and then served as a Louisiana State Probation and Parole Officer with the Louisiana Department of Corrections. In 1996, he graduated from the North Delta Regional Police Academy and became POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) certified.
He earned a master’s degree in Criminal Justice at night from the University of Louisiana at Monroe while working at Probation and Parole during the day. He attended Southern University Law School where he earned my Juris Doctor degree in law. While at Southern, he served on the Moot Court Board, worked as a teaching assistant with the university and worked as a law clerk with the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office in Baton Rouge. After being admitted to practice law, he served for 3 years as an Assistant District Attorney with former District Attorney lIey Evans here in Caldwell Parish where he gained invaluable jury trial and administrative experience. For the past six years, he has served Caldwell Parish as a criminal defense attorney with District Criminal Defender Louis Champagne. Thomas is an attorney in the law firm of Mckeithen, Ryland, Champagne and Domangue.
Thomas has practiced law throughout the State of Louisiana in the following areas: Criminal Prosecution, Criminal Defense, Family Law, Successions, Interdiction, Real Estate, Title Examination, Worker’s Compensation, Personal Injury, Social Security Disability, Juvenile Delinquency, Children in Need of Care, and Families in Need of Services.