NEW ORLEANS — A special grand jury has indicted Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson with less than a week to go in her four-year term.

The attorney general's office announced the indictment Wednesday, saying Hutson is named in 30 counts alleging malfeasance and payroll fraud. The agency's chief financial officer, Bianka Brown, is named in 20 counts.

Hutson is Orleans Parish's first Black woman to serve as sheriff. She defeated incumbent Marlin Gusman in 2022.

Television station WWL reported that the investigation involved the agency's funding and operations. There were allegations that she overspent on hotel rooms for top aides during Mardi Gras, and state auditors recently identified nearly $260,000 in suspicious overpayments to deputies for security details, the station reported.

Tension reached a breaking point in May 2025, when a massive security breach allowed 10 inmates to escape the jail, sparking a city-wide manhunt and damaging Hutson's re-election prospects. Voters elected former Interim NOPD Superintendent Michelle Woodfork to replace Hutson next Monday.

In a farewell address this week, Hutson acknowledged the "challenges" of the past four years but insisted the jail and the Sheriff’s Office are in a stronger position than when she arrived.