NEW ORLEANS — Former East Baton Rouge Parish Attorney Andy Dotson was named Wednesday as the new chief lawyer for the state's Attorney Disciplinary Board. He replaces Charles Plattsmier, who served in the post for 28 years.

Dotson was a longtime parish employee and served five years as parish attorney. His tenure was marked by the mishandling of a proposed stormwater fee in 2022. His office told Metro Council members that federal agents prohibited discussions about how to raise money to address stormwater drainage issues across the parish.

Council members briefly considered removing Dotson, but dropped the idea after bogus nondisclosure agreements were traced to a lawyer in Dotson's office who ultimately left his job.

"From evaluating all the information within the city-parish government, I feel that we were misled," Councilman Cleve Dunn said at the time.

According to the Louisiana Supreme Court, Dotson has held various positions with the board that disciplines lawyers for ethical and other breaches of state laws and judicial canons. Dotson has an undergraduate degree from LSU and a law degree from Southern. He worked for city-parish government since 2009 until earlier this year, including as chief city prosecutor.

The court said Plattsmier made significant contributions to the attorney discipline system, including authoring amendments to both the Rules of Professional Conduct and Louisiana Supreme Court Rule 19 concerning attorney discipline. Plattsmier's departure is effective Sunday.

Dotson became acting parish attorney when Lea Anne Batson resigned suddenly in 2019. He served six months in an interim role before winning the role permanently.