MENtionable January 2024 District Attorney Collin Sims

EXCELLENCE, EXPERIENCE, INTEGRITY

WRITTEN BY MARLAINE PEACHEY PHOTOS BY COLLIN RICHIE

In 2014, St. Tammany and Washington Parishes voted overwhelmingly to elect Warren Montgomery to serve as their District Attorney. DA Montgomery, in turn, hired a team that reflected his values.

Collin Sims, Warren’s choice as Chief of the Criminal Division, is a highly respected and accomplished prosecutor whose values, honesty, integrity, capability, and volume of experience was and is an integral part of restoring confidence in the District Attorney’s Office. Together, they eliminated the good old boy system of the have and have-nots and created a fair, just, and equal system for all citizens with improved efficiency, honored victims, applied justice equally to all defendants, and hired a team that has served the people’s interests for the past 9 years.

Collin Sims, Warren’s First Assistant and our interim DA, has vowed to honor DA Montgomery’s legacy by continuing to keep our community safe and fight corruption. On March 23, 2024, the voters will have the opportunity to decide if they wish to stay on the path that Warren and Collin have forged or return to the corruptive prior culture of the past that embarrassed the citizens of Washington and St. Tammany parishes.

Collin is from Mandeville and a graduate of Saint Paul’s High School. He attended Mississippi College on a leadership scholarship, where he met his wife Elizabeth, and graduated with honors, obtaining a Degree in Political Science. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans. As a life-long prosecutor, Collin is determined to put dangerous criminals in prison, help those that he can, give victims the justice that they deserve, and work for the people. His wife Elizabeth is a longtime emergency room nurse and local nurse practitioner. Their faith has led them to dedicate their professional lives to helping and serving others within their respective fields. They have instilled a sense of service in educating their three children, 16, 15, and 13, to do the same, ensuring that their family has an impactful life of purpose.

For more than 17 years, Collin has served as a career criminal prosecutor, beginning as an Assistant District Attorney in Orleans Parish. In 2008, he accepted a position with the United States Attorney’s Office, becoming one of the youngest in America to serve. He spent the next 7 years as a federal criminal prosecutor assigned as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western and Eastern District of Louisiana. In January of 2015, he accepted the position as Chief of the Criminal Division for the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office where he regularly supervised over 100 employees.

Collin Sims remained cross-designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for two additional years and continued to investigate, indict, prosecute, and conduct criminal jury trials while supervising the Criminal Division of the office. Most notably, Collin was the lead prosecutor that convicted former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain who is currently serving multiple life sentences.

During his time as a Federal and State Prosecutor, Collin has specialized in investigating and prosecuting violent gangs, criminal enterprises engaged in organized drug trafficking and money laundering, murder, rape, child exploitation, and public corruption. Collin has established and worked with several multistate/jurisdictional and international law enforcement task forces. He teaches investigators and prosecutors in both the federal and state systems on how to investigate and prosecute racketeering (RICO) cases, the use of wiretap (Title III) surveillance at the investigative stage along with presenting that evidence in court, and how to prepare a law enforcement witness to testify and write reports. Under Warren and Collin’s leadership, the District Attorney’s Office now maintains a 95.6% conviction rate against defendants who abuse children both physically and sexually. Generally, the DA’s office maintains a felony case prosecution acceptance rate of approximately 93 – 96% of cases submitted from law enforcement. In 2018, the District Attorney’s office also collaborated with Safe Harbor, community leaders, and state and local law enforcement agencies to start the St. Tammany Domestic Violence Coordinated Community Response Team, resulting in a more than 200% reduction in the number of domestic violence cases being dismissed after charging the offender. The District Attorney’s office maintains a conviction rate Awards and accolades for Collin include Financial Case of the Year, DEA, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area; FBI Director’s Award, National Outstanding Criminal Investigation of Year; Excellence in Law Enforcement Award (twice) from the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission; Department of Homeland Security Award – Service/Achievement Recognition; United States Secret Service – Certificate of Appreciation – Superior Contribution; Graduate and Alumni of the Year of Leadership St. Tammany; and Real Superhero of Safe Harbor.

We have been blessed to have had former District Attorney Warren Montgomery, Current District Attorney Collin Sims, and this DA’s Office replace the former culture of corruption. And we are thankful that Warren entrusted Collin to make our community proud and keep us safe.Barbie's

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