J. Howell Flournoy

Joseph Howell Flournoy
Sheriff Flournoy on duty in his early career
Sheriff of Caddo Parish, Louisiana
In office July 1940 – December 14, 1966
Preceded by	Thomas Roland Hughes
Succeeded by	James M. Goslin
Personal details
Born	(1891-10-21)October 21, 1891 Greenwood, Caddo Parish Louisiana, US
Died	December 14, 1966(1966-12-14) (aged 75) Shreveport, Louisiana
Resting place	Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Mary Bridges Flournoy
Children	Georgia Lou Flournoy Hodgson
Occupation	Law-enforcement officer

Joseph Howell Flournoy, known as J. Howell Flournoy (October 21, 1891 – December 14, 1966), was the sheriff of Caddo Parish based in Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana, from 1940 until his death in office. His 26-year tenure as the Caddo Parish sheriff has yet to be surpassed.

A native of Greenwood in southwestern Caddo Parish, Flournoy was the son of James Patteson "Pat" Flournoy, Sr., the Caddo Parish sheriff from 1906–1916, who had previously been the Shreveport municipal auditor, parish tax assessor, and coroner, at a time when medical examiners in Louisiana need not have been physicians. Flournoy was the paternal grandson of 19th century Sheriff Alonzo Flournoy.

Flournoy was educated in public schools in Shreveport and thereafter attended an unnamed business college. A Louisiana National Guardsman, Flournoy was a United States Army veteran of World War I, with assignment on the Mexican border. He was also as an instructor in a machine gun school at Camp Hancock, Georgia, and was commissioned a lieutenant.

At seventeen, Flournoy became a deputy in the Caddo Parish sheriff's department, a position that he held from 1913–1928. He was hence a deputy under his father from 1913 to 1916, as were two of his brothers, James Flournoy, Jr., and George A. Flournoy. From 1928 to 1940, J. Howell Flournoy was a deputy Caddo Parish tax collector. In 1940, Flournoy was elected sheriff to succeed Thomas Roland Hughes in the same political cycle which brought Sam Houston Jones of Lake Charles to the governorship. Hughes, known for his arrest of the controversial blues musician Lead Belly, had succeeded J. Pat Flournoy as sheriff in 1916. As sheriff, J. Howell Flournoy in 1940 organized the Caddo Parish Selective Service board and trained an internal security group in Shreveport during World War II. He spearheaded a measure to establish a pension and relief fund for sheriff's department employees. From 1950 until his death, except for one year, Flournoy headed the Louisiana Sheriff's Pension and Relief Fund.