Joseph Lopinto
Joseph Peter Lopinto, III, known as Joe Lopinto (born June 11, 1976), is the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish Louisiana, a suburb within the New Orleans area. He is an attorney from Metairie, Louisiana, who was a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 80 in suburban Jefferson Parish outside New Orleans. Lopinto began his career as a deputy sheriff with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office in 1997. Upon graduating from the police academy, Lopinto worked in the First District (the east half of the Eastbank that encompasses Metairie) before being promoted to narcotics detective . Lopinto graduated from the Roman Catholic-affiliated Loyola University and its law school, from which he received the Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees. Lopinto was elected to the legislature in 2007 to succeed the term-limited Republican Charles D. Lancaster, Jr., whose initial service had dated to 1972-1976 and again from 1980-2008. In the nonpartisan blanket primary, Lopinto defeated fellow Republican Glenn Lee, 6,170 (58.6 percent) to 4,357 (41.4 percent). He has been the vice chair of the House Commerce Committee and a member of the Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice. In 2010, Lopinto  supported the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry 88 percent of the time and the Louisiana Family Forum 100 percent. In 2009, he was ranked 100 percent by the Louisiana Right to Life Federation. Lopinto was reelected to the House in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. Lopinto also holds the District 80 seat on the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee. Entering his third and final House term on January 11, 2016, Lopinto has announced that he will cross party lines to support the Democrat Walt Leger, III, of New Orleans for Speaker of the Louisiana House  of Representatives, the choice of incoming Governor John Bel Edwards. However, in an upset, lawmakers chose not Leger as Speaker but New Iberia Republican Taylor Barras. On June 30, 2016, Lopinto resigned from the Louisiana legislature to become Chief Counsel at the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. After serving as Chief Counsel, Sheriff Newell Normand appointed Lopinto to be Chief of Field Operations and also Chief Deputy, which is the highest appointed rank in a sheriff's office. On August 30, 2017, Sheriff Normand unexpectedly resigned to take a job as a talk show host and Lopinto was appointed Interim  Sheriff. During the subsequent race to complete Normand's term as Sheriff, Lopinto faced a challenge from John Fortunato, the longtime spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. On March 24, 2018, Lopinto was elected to complete Newell Normand's term as Sheriff of Jefferson Parish after defeating Fortunato 52% to 48%.