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NEW ORLEANS (AP) 鈥� Facing allegations of a conflict of interest, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams removed himself this week from a Louisiana Attorney General-led investigation into the massive jailbreak that saw 10 men escape a New Orleans jail earlier this month.

Gov. Jeff Landry ordered an investigation into the jailbreak several days after the inmates escaped on May 16. Williams had initially described the inquiry as a 鈥渏oint effort鈥� with the Attorney General Liz Murrill and toured the jail with her as part of the probe.

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson accused Williams’ role in the investigation as being 鈥渇ueled by personal animus and political campaigning鈥� according to a court filing earlier this week reviewed by The Associated Press. Williams denied these allegations.

Earlier this year, Williams endorsed his employee Michelle Woodfork to replace Hutson as sheriff in 2026. Woodfork declined to comment.

In a statement, Williams said the recusal motion had not been granted because there were 鈥渘o legal grounds to support it.鈥�

Judge Nandi Campbell, who received the motion for recusal, declined to comment.

Williams and Hutson dispute the timeline and reasons for his withdrawal from the investigation.

Williams said he removed himself due to its 鈥渕ulti-jurisdictional nature” 鈥� citing a separate jailbreak that occurred earlier this month in another Louisiana parish 鈥� and has deferred to Murrill.

Williams said his office engaged in the investigation 鈥渢o ensure that no evidence was lost or compromised鈥� after the breakout.

He criticized Hutson for not 鈥渋mmediately鈥� requesting an 鈥渋ndependent forensic processing鈥� of the facility, where inmates had yanked open a cell door and crawled through a hole cut from behind a toilet. Authorities have arrested a maintenance worker for allegedly aiding in the escape.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard not to see this agency as anything but compromised until any bad actors have been identified and rooted out,” Williams said of the sheriff’s office.

At a press conference the day of the escape on May 16, Hutson said that she believed the timing of the jailbreak may have been politically motivated.

Hutson鈥檚 motion for recusal says that Williams鈥� investigation had given an 鈥渦nfair advantage to his preferred candidate鈥� and would be a 鈥渟train鈥� on the resources of the sheriff’s office.

Hutson鈥檚 allegations against Williams come after local and state officials heaped criticism on Hutson鈥檚 management of the jail and her office鈥檚 hourslong delay in notifying authorities of the escape. While Hutson has sought to blame the escape on a lack of funding to help make urgent improvements to faulty locks and ailing jail infrastructure, city and state leaders have generally disputed this characterization.

Murrill said in a Thursday statement that she is heading the investigation to provide 鈥渁ccountability鈥� and 鈥渞ecommendations鈥� to the state and the city 鈥渢o ensure that an escape like this never happens again.鈥�

Hutson said that she 鈥渨elcomes the oversight of the Attorney General鈥檚 Office and remains fully committed to cooperating with all relevant authorities.鈥�

The Orleans Parish jail system, long plagued by dysfunction, has been under federal oversight since 2013.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.