, james m. "jimmy" leblanc is the secretary of the department. gordon russell and maya lau of "the baton rouge advocate" wrote that the salary of burl cain, warden of louisiana state penitentiary from 1995 to 2016, was $167,211 per year, $30,000 higher than that of leblanc, a previous subordinate and personal friend of cain; russell and lau stated that many observers considered cain the "de facto" head of the department.