Grand jury indicts former Louisiana House Speaker for allegedly stealing rare state artifact

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A grand jury on Wednesday indicted former Louisiana House Speaker Clay Schexnayder for felony theft and malfeasance in office for allegedly stealing a rare artifact that had gone missing from the state capitol.

Schexnayder allegedly stole an ancient cypress board worth more than $25,000 that had been on display in the Louisiana state Capitol building for decades. The felony theft charge can carry a sentence of up to 20 years or a $50,000 fine.

The Times Picayune-Advocate reported in September that Schexnayder had taken the board from the capitol more than a decade ago to display in his legislative office in Gonzales, Louisiana.

Schexnayder did not respond to text and phone messages from The Associated Press seeking comment on his indictment. He previously told The Times Picayune-Advocate that he had received permission to take the board, an account which other state officials rejected.

“You don't get to keep state property, it doesn't belong to you,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Murrill’s office said the board “still has not been recovered.”

Schexnayder, a Republican, served as a state representative for a stretch of southeast Louisiana from 2012 to 2024 before being term limited. From 2020 to 2024, he served as House speaker. In 2023, he ran for secretary of state and lost in the primary.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.