Election Day
March 23
Early Voting
March 9-16
Experienced Prosecutor,Trusted Public Servant
Collin Sims was designated First Assistant District Attorney prior to DA Warren Montgomery’s passing and presently serves as the Interim District Attorney for the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office for St. Tammany and Washington Parishes.
Collin is from Mandeville, LA and a graduate of Saint Paul’s High School. Collin attended Mississippi College on a leadership scholarship and graduated with honors with a Degree in Political Science. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Loyola University New Orleans, College of Law. For more than 17 years, he has served as a career criminal prosecutor beginning as an Assistant District Attorney in Orleans Parish in 2006. In 2008, he accepted a position with the United States Attorney’s Office becoming one of the youngest to serve as Assistant United States Attorney in the country. He spent the next 7 years as a federal criminal prosecutor assigned as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Louisiana and then in the Eastern District of Louisiana. In January of 2015, he accepted the position as Chief of the Criminal Division for the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office where he regularly supervised over 100 of the approximate 140 employees.
Collin Sims remained cross designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for two additional years ending in January of 2017. Collin continued to investigate, indict, prosecute, and conduct criminal jury trials while supervising the Criminal Division of the office. Most notably, Collin was the lead prosecutor that convicted former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain who is currently serving multiple life sentences.
During his time as a Federal and State Prosecutor, Collin has specialized in investigating and prosecuting violent gangs, rape, murder, criminal enterprises engaged in organized drug trafficking and money laundering, child exploitation, and public corruption. Collin has established and worked with several multi-state/ jurisdictional and international law enforcement task forces. He teaches investigators and prosecutors in both the federal and state systems on how to investigate and prosecute racketeering (RICO) cases, the use of wiretap (Title III) surveillance at the investigative stage along with presenting that evidence in court, and how to prepare a law enforcement witness to testify and write reports.
Unit Highlights with Collaborative Partners
Child Exploitation Cases - Additionally, according to independent aggregate statistics maintained by the Children's Advocacy Center, Hope House, the District Attorney’s Office maintains a 95.6% conviction rate against those that violate children when charges are filed against a perpetrator. Generally, the District Attorney’s Office maintains a felony case prosecution acceptance rate of approximately 93-96% of cases submitted from law enforcement.
Domestic Violence Cases - In 2018, the District Attorney’s office collaborated with Safe Harbor, community leaders, and state and local law enforcement agencies to start the St. Tammany Domestic Violence Coordinated Community Response Team. This team is a multi-disciplinary partnership that focuses on providing access to domestic violence and sexual assault services that enhance victim safety and privacy. The changes made to the Domestic Violence Unit have resulted in a more than a 200% reduction in the number of domestic violence cases being dismissed after charging the offender.
Collin is married to his wife, Elizabeth Sims, whom he met while attending Mississippi College and had the honor of marrying her on November 26, 2005. Elizabeth is a Family Nurse Practitioner for Dr. Elizabeth White’s office in Covington, LA. She also volunteers as a children’s advocate with CASA and served on the board NAMI. They have three beautiful children and live together in Madisonville, LA.
Professional Boards and Non-profit Organizations:
- The Children’s Advocacy Center, Hope House (2016-present)
- President of the St. Tammany Parish Bar Association (2023)
- Safe Haven Advisory Board (2015-present)
- Northshore Court Foundation (2023-present)
- Children’s Museum of St. Tammany Advisory Board (2023-present)
- Louisiana District Attorneys Association’s Assistant District Attorney’s Board of Directors, District Representative, representing the ten parishes of the 18th, 20th 21st and the 22nd Judicial District Courts (2017-2021)
Professional Awards and Accolades:
- Financial Case of the Year, DEA, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (2012)
- FBI Director’s Award, National Outstanding Criminal Investigation of Year (2016)
- Excellence in Law Enforcement Award from the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission (2016 & 2022)
- Department of Homeland Security Award – Service/Achievement Recognition (2012)
- United States Secret Service – Certificate of Appreciation – Superior Contribution (2012)
- Graduate of Leadership St. Tammany (2016) and the Alumni of the year (2023)
- Real Superhero of Safe Harbor (2019)
