The Red River Parish Police Jury has finalized the appointment of Debra Jones as the parish Registrar of Voters. Board Supervisor Jessie Davis made the motion at the board meeting Monday night. Jones was the Deputy Registrar and she was chosen following a month-long period of advertising for applicants and conducting interviews to fill the position.

Police Jury President Shawn Beard said, “The state requires that we act quickly to appoint a new Registrar. And that’s what we did Monday night.” Former Registrar, Mary Jones had retired recently after 18-years on the job.

The Journal met with Debra Jones Tuesday and we found her busy at work. She said, “I don’t anticipate any change for our clients. We will continue to be there for anyone who needs help.”

“We will be hiring a Deputy Registrar in the near future,” said Jones. She added, “There are over 6,000 registered voters in Red River Parish, which is very good considering our population is about 8,500. We will continue to try and get more of our citizens registered to vote in the future.”

Debra Jones’ first challenge will be early voting in statewide and local elections. Early voting begins on October 23rd and runs through October 30th. Early voting will take place at the Registrar’s office in the Courthouse each day except Sunday of that week.