The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office says that an inmate was improperly released from custody.
OPSO says they learned that Seth Butler, 19, was improperly released on May 30, and on June 8, the OJJ probation informed OPSO of the error.
The OPSO Capias Unit was deployed to Butler’s address. The defendant was taken into custody without incident and returned to the Orleans Justice Center lockup for rebooking.
According to OPSO, in 2024, Butler was placed on juvenile probation with OJJ with an end date of Sept. 18, 2027.
While on probation, and after he reached adult age, Butler was arrested again on new charges in 2025 and was booked into OJC.
In February 2026, during the prior OPSO administration, OJJ emailed a detainer to the OPSO records to hold Butler for pickup by OJJ after the adult case was complete, according to OPSO.
OPSO says the emailed detainer was never added to Butler’s OPSO file or the Jail Management System.
Butler pled guilty to adult charges in Section A of Criminal District Court on May 29 and was given credit for time served and a suspended sentence by Judge Levine.
The judge issued a release on the adult charges on May 30.
OPSO says they immediately contacted Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Judge Candace Bates Anderson, Orleans Criminal District Court Judge Simone Levine, New Orleans Police Department Assistant Superintendent Hans Ganthier, Orleans Parish District Attorneys Office First Assistant Edward McGowan, US Marshals Service Taskforce Sgt. King Tao, and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Michael Harrison.
