By Bonnie Culverhouse

Webster Parish Sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers gathered Tuesday to eat lunch and say goodbye to their warden Orlan Davidson at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center. Sheriff Jason Parker said he had prayed for someone to fill the warden’s shoes at the facility when he first took office four years ago.

“I had a good friend who said he knew a guy down in LaSalle. Orlan came up here and I met him. I knew in the first 30 minutes I talked to him, he was the guy for the job,” Parker said. “All these people out here love and appreciate what you’ve done.”

Parker presented Davidson with a plaque from the Sheriff’s Office.

“You’ve made a big difference in my life and my family’s life,” Davidson told the sheriff. “Anything you need from me, you know where to find me.”

New warden Scott Tucker will take over beginning Monday, September 2.