Paul Carmouche

Paul Joseph Carmouche (born June 23, 1943) is an American lawyer who served as a five-term District Attorney for Caddo Parish, Louisiana from 1979 to 2009. Before his tenure as district attorney, Carmouche graduated from Loyola University New Orleans Law School in 1969 and worked as an assistant in the DA's office from 1974 to 1977. Carmouche was also a one-time candidate for the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 4th congressional district, having narrowly lost that race to Republican challenger John C. Fleming in 2008.

Biography Paul Carmouche was born and reared in Napoleonville in Assumption Parish in south Louisiana, where he attended public schools. He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1969 from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, He was admitted to the State Bar of Louisiana in 1969. Paul and Margaret have a daughter, Marianna Carmouche Clement (born 1980), who is married to Scott Clement of Dallas, Texas. Marianna has worked for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Law career After law school, Carmouche joined a small civil law firm, and handled civil and criminal cases for four years, with a 2006-census estimated population of 253,118. During Carmouche's tenure in the DA's office, new services added include a Pretrial Diversion Section, Victim/Witness Section, Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Section, Child Support Division, Hot Check Section, White Collar Crimes Section, Sex Crimes Screening Unit and a Homicide Screening Unit; as well, making the office fully computerized with online information available to the public. Carmouche retired as district attorney in January 2009 and now is a criminal defense attorney in private practice.

2008 Congressional race

In February 2008, Carmouche announced that he would not seek re-election as District Attorney. who held the seat since the spring of 1988.

On November 4, 2008, Carmouche procured the Democratic nomination in a runoff over the African American attorney Willie Banks, Jr., 93,093 (62 percent) to 57,078 (38 percent). Eliminated in the primary was later State Senator John Milkovich, a Shreveport lawyer.

On December 6, 2008, Carmouche lost the general election by 356 votes to Minden physician John Fleming, who was succeeded in January 2017 by another Republican, Mike Johnson, who would become the 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in 2023.