Downs, who has two sisters, is the son of the late C. H. "Sammy" Downs of Alexandria who served in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature and was a confidant of Governors Earl Kemp Long and John McKeithen. His mother, the former Alice Daigre (pronounded DAGE), subsequently Alice Downs and then Alice Thomas (1914-1994), was a sister of the Alexandria consulting engineer Louis Jacob Daigre, Junior. Sammy Downs is buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.
Paul M. Hebert Law Center.
He has held the position since 2000. Before his election as District Attorney, Jam Downs had been an assistant district attorney. He is known for his interest in conservation, hunting, and enforcement of game laws.
At least three candidates have announced that they will run in the November 4, 2014 nonpartisan blanket primary to choose a successor to Downs, who customarily ran without an opponent.
One was State Representative Chris Hazel, a Republican from Ball and a former assistant District Attorney under Downs. Phillip Terrell, a former city judge in Pineville with decades of legal experience, was te third candidate.
Ultimately, Terrell defeated Hazel in a close runoff election on December 6 and will succeed Downs in January 2015.
"Jam" Downs is not related to the late John Harden Barnett Downs, known as Johnny Downs, a five-term member of the Alexandria City Council and the namesake of the Johnny Downs Sports Complex at 271 Vandenburg Drive in Alexandria.
