David Ditch, the new Iberia Parish Clerk of Court, has plans for the office going forward.
He’s taken over officially following the conviction last week of former Clerk Mike Thibodeaux. Thibodeaux resigned on Thursday and Ditch was sworn in on Friday.
“We have some goals going forward, to implement as much technology as we can,” Ditch said.
Thibodeaux was found guilty on all counts against him after a trial. The case stems from his alleged theft of advance court costs that were either due back to people who filed in court or to the state as unclaimed property. The alleged crimes happened during various spans of time from 1998 until July 2017, according to the indictment.
Ditch says his immediate goal is to identify all the suits that were named in the indictments, the investigative audit and during the trial, and get those court costs back to the litigants.
“The first thing we did was hire an accounting firm to come in and get a handle on where we are financially,” he said. “We also have hired auditors to provide the professionalism needed to identify those suits, and get the money back to the litigants.”
Today, Ditch said he signed a contract to implement e-filing, so people involved in civil litigation in Iberia Parish can file documents electronically.
Ditch said he’s also aiming to get his employees back to work.
“We want to get the employees back to business. Back to operating the clerk office,” he said. “They’re some of the best public servants around. They work hard every day to operate this office and I think they’re excited about getting back to work, and getting this behind us.”
