Longtime St. Martinville policeman and former Assistant Chief Nary Smith has thrown his hat into the ring for the new “majority minority” state House of Representatives district that includes a large portion of St. Martin Parish.

District 96 includes much of St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge and predominately black neighborhoods of New Iberia and Lafayette.

“I have been a civil servant for 34 years and I would like to keep serving the public in a different capacity, honestly and fairly, with equal justice for all,” Smith said in making his initial campaign announcement.

A 1966 graduate of Adam Carlson High, Smith joined the St. Martinville Police Department in 1977 and became an administrator of SMPD in 1981.

He served as interim police chief on four different occasions, one of which lasted 18 months.

Smith recently retired from SMPD. He continues to work in private security.

Smith is married to the former Linda Menard of Breaux Bridge.