Gov. Jeff Landry picked three former elected officials and two retired state judges Monday to serve on the reconfigured Louisiana Board of Ethics that expands from 11 to 15 seats this month. Two of the governor’s members are former state lawmakers. Former state Sen. Kenneth “Mike” Smith Sr., D-Winnsboro, served in the Legislature from 1996 to 2008, and former state Rep. Rickey Nowlin, R-Natchitoches, served from 2008-12. Nowlin also served as Natchitoches Parish president. Jason Amato, a Republican who served on the St. James Parish Council for more than 20 years, is also a Landry appointee to the ethics board. Landry has also chosen two retired state court judges for the board: District Judge John Crigler of Tensas Parish and state appellate court Judge Vanessa Whipple of Terrebonne Parish. Crigler retired from the 6th Judicial District Court in 2019 after 26 years on the bench. Whipple was chief judge for First Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge and the first woman elected to that court. The Louisiana House of Representatives has also put a new member on the ethics board, former state Rep. Mike Huval, R-Breaux Bridge. The Senate is considering nominees and hasn’t elected its newest member yet, Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said Tuesday. Landry pushed for dramatic changes to the ethics board last year that gave the governor far more influence over the body. He increased the size of the board and upped his own appointees from seven to nine. The Louisiana House and Senate also get one additional nominee each, for a total of six seats. For the first time, the governor and legislators are also allowed to appoint people directly to the board. Previous governors and lawmakers were only able to pick ethics board members off of lists of nominees selected by the leaders of Louisiana’s private colleges and universities. Under the new ethics law, the governor and legislators are encouraged to include five former elected officials, five retired judges and five people who have never held elected office on the board. But those standards are not required. With Landry’s new members joining the board, three current members are leaving. Father Jose LaVastida, a Catholic priest in New Orleans, Sarah Couvillon, an Alexandria attorney, and Mark Ellis, a Baton Rouge pastor, are stepping down.