Term Ends: 2026
Party: D

Benedict Willard is a judge for the Orleans Parish Criminal Court, Section C, in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. He was first elected to this position on November 5, 2002 and was re-elected without opposition in 2008. He was re-elected in 2014 for a term beginning on January 1, 2015, and expiring on December 31, 2020. Willard earned his J.D. from the Southern University Law Center in 1992. Later, he worked as adjunct faculty at Southern University. Willard began his career as a staff attorney for the Louisiana Secretary of State. He then served as a law clerk and staff attorney for Justice Bernette Johnson of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1994 through 1998. He joined the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office in 1999 and worked as an assistant district attorney until 2001. After that, he was an administrator of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court until he was elected to the district court in late 2002.