Judge Peter Garcia Talks About His Grandfather

Judge Peter Garcia of the 22nd Judicial District several years ago told the students at Lancaster Elementary about his grandfather, Joseph B. Lancaster, who was the first superintendent of schools in the parish. The presentation was made at the school's opening  ceremonies and was video-taped by Channel 13, the school system's television channel. 

Click on the "play triangle" in the center of the above image to play the video. 

According to the E. J. Fielding Funeral Home, Judge Peter J. Garcia died of heart complications on Tuesday, March 10, 2020,  in Covington. He was 66 years if age, Garcia was the District Judge for Division “D” of the Twenty – Second Judicial District Court of the State of Louisiana, first elected in 1996 and re-elected three additional terms without opposition.

While in private practice, he served as City Attorney and Magistrate for the City of Covington from 1991 through 1996. He had also served as a former Assistant District Attorney for the Parishes of St. Tammany and Washington under District Attorney Marion Farmer.

He was a past president of both the St. Tammany Bar Association and the Covington Bar Association. He was admitted to the United States Supreme Court Bar in 1983 and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 1980. He was a founding member and first president of the 22nd Judicial District Court chapter of the Inns of Court. Judge Garcia served as Chief Judge of the 22nd Judicial District Court from January 2, 2003 until December 31, 2006.

Drug Court

Judge Garcia started one of the first drug courts in the State of Louisiana in 1998. In 2002, this court was named by the U.S. Justice Department as one of sixteen mentor courts in the country to train other judges in the implementation of drug courts. He presided over a division of drug court for over fifteen years and concomitantly over a division of juvenile drug court for three years. In 2011 Judge Garcia started a Behavioral Health Court to provide case management and judicial supervision of individuals with co-occurring mental health and addictive disorders within the criminal justice system.

A member of the 2013 class of the Louisiana Judicial Leadership Institute, he was recognized in 2014 by the Louisiana National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) with its Criminal Justice Award. In 2018 he was recognized with the Sam Cochran Criminal Justice Award presented by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

See also:

Joseph B. Lancaster