LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY | Secretary Courtney J. Burdette
A DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
MAILING ADDRESS:
P.O. Box 4301
Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4301
PHYSICAL ADDRESS:
LDEQ Headquarters – Galvez Building
602 North Fifth Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Phone: (225) 219-3953
Fax: (225) 219-3971
Email: officesec@la.gov
Secretary Courtney J. Burdette
Gov. Jeff Landry named Courtney Burdette Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality on May 2, 2025. Burdette is a veteran attorney with years of experience at LDEQ in environmental law. She first began work in the LDEQ legal division in 2014 and served as general counsel for the agency from 2020, the first black woman to hold that job.
She is a native of Baton Rouge who earned her juris doctorate degree from LSU Law School after earning a bachelor’s degree in English at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Burdette clerked for Judge Ralph Tyson and Judge Brian Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. She previously worked for the State of Louisiana as an Assistant Attorney General with the Louisiana Department of Justice Litigation Division.
Burdette has a history of attorneys in her family. Both of her parents are attorneys, as well as her father’s brother. Her mom was a judge who recently retired in December after being on the bench for approximately 25 years. Her dad was a city prosecutor and worked with the parish attorney’s office.
Burdette is married and has two children, Carter and Payton. She said she looks forward to the challenge of running LDEQ. “There is that saying ‘good enough for government work.’ I don’t believe in that. I believe in good work regardless of where you work or who you work for. I think we should always hold ourselves to the highest standards possible."
As the managerial branch of the Department, the Office of the Secretary facilitates achievement of environmental improvements by coordinating the other program offices' work to reduce quantity and toxicity of emissions, representing the Department when dealing with external agencies, providing legal counsel to the Department, communicating effectively with the public, and by promoting initiatives that serve a broad environmental mandate.