VP City Court Judge Donald Launey plans to retire after 23 years

Long-time Ville Platte City Court Judge Donald Launey Jr. plans to retire at the end of January.
Launey has been city court judge for 23 years. His last six-yar term began in December 2008 and expires in December of this year.
The judge was one of three candidates when he was first elected city judge in 1991. He had no opposition for his next three city court judge elections.
Jonathan Vidrine was sworn in last year as judge pro tem when Judge Launey was on leave.
Judge Launey graduated from Loyola Law School and opened a practice in Ville Platte in the early 1970s.
He and his wife Connie have two daughters, Yvette LeBlanc, a nurse anesthetist in Lafayette, and Nicole Gross, a pharmacist in Shreveport. The Launeys have three grandchildren.