Ruby Thibeaux
Manceaux had served as the marshal for 14 years, while Thibeaux was the Chief Deputy for the past eight years.
“The idea that marshal will not be here any more is a very hard adjustment for me,” said Thibeaux. “We worked very well together.”
Thibeaux said Manceaux had been planning to retire in 2014 and had been grooming her to be his successor.
“The marshal was a great friend and mentor,” she said. “His absence will truly be missed. I feel that after working under his guidance as his chief deputy for the last eight years, I am capable of doing the job..”
Thibeaux began working for the city as a full-time dispatcher with the Kaplan Police, while the chief deputy’s job was part-time.
“The one who was working here before me wanted a full time position, and I was looking for part-time, so we switched positions.
“My working part-time lasted all of one month, because this job requires a full time employee,” Thibeaux laughs when the marshal was hospitalized leaving her in charge.
Some of her duties include serving evictions, warrants, subpoenas, civil paper and transporting prisoners from all over the state to Kaplan.
Thibeaux feels her biggest hurdle will be on when city court convenes.
“Marshall would stay with the DA and hand out the tickets to the defendants, while I would take care of the prisoners and anything else needed for court. Now that I am alone, I don’t know how that will work out.”
It is currently under investigation to determine if volunteers would be able to assist her during city court.
“Officials are presently doing research if my two volunteers can assist me.”
When asked if there were any plans to fill the position left vacant by her, Thibeaux said the problem is finding someone who would work for the low pay and no benefits.
Mayor Kirk Champagne and Chief of Police Boyd Adams have nothing but praise for the income marshal.
“Ruby starts work at six in the morning and works through midnight,” said Adams. “Ruby will do an outstanding job just as she has the past several years she has worked for the marshal.”
Mayor Kirk Champagne stated, “Ruby is a very qualified individual to fill the shoes of Marshal Manceaux.
“I had a conversation with the marshal about two weeks before his surgery. He explained to me that it was his intention to have Ruby fill the position if anything should happen.”
After Manceaux passed away, Champagne stated no one knew who the appointing authority was, so he contacted the city attorney. After researching the issue, the finding was that the parish is the appointing authority unless there is a chief deputy marshal, in which case they automatically assume the marshal position until a special election can be held.
That election will be November 6.
“I want the citizens of Kaplan to know that Ruby is a very dedicated and competent person and I’m confident that she will do a great job.”
Thibeaux graduated from the St. Martinville Police Academy in March 2008 and the Juvenile Officer Academy in May 2011.
She was named Deputy Marshal of the Year for the State of Louisiana in April 2011 and Citizen of the Month in Kaplan in the same month. She is a member of the American Legion Post 271.
She keeps in touch with current changes in her field by attending the annual Louisiana City Marshals Association Conference for training on the many different fields of evictions, garnishments, process service, and domestic calls,
Thibeaux is a lifelong resident of Kaplan and has one daughter, Liza Guidry; two grandchildren, Slater and Katie Guidry and the guardian of her godchild, Kelsee Thibeaux. She is the daughter of the late Dudley and Ruth Corner.
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