Mike Futrell

Michael "Mike" Futrell (born 1960) is an attorney, United States Navy officer, public official, and Republican politician from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

From 2000 to 2005, Futrell served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 66 in East Baton Rouge Parish. He resigned a year into his second term to become the state director for freshman U.S. Senator David Vitter. Having followed Democrat-turned-Republican Woody Jenkins in the House, Futrell was himself succeeded by another Republican lawyer, Hunter Greene. Journalist John Maginnis said that Futrell did not stand out during his tenure in the legislature but was well-liked and well-regarded. Futrell's resume indicates that in 2002, he received the "Golden Apple Legislators Support of Education" award. In 2004, he obtained the Louisiana Municipal Association Leadership Award. In 2005, he procured the Louisiana Family Forum Legislative Advocate Award.

Prior to the House tenure, Futrell was from 1997 to 2000 the District 8 member of the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council. He was elected without opposition in September 1996 to succeed the incumbent Republican member Lynda Imes, who instead ran for the Louisiana State Senate but lost to the Republican Jay Dardenne.

In 2008, after leaving Vitter's staff, Futrell became the assistant chief administrative officer of the City of Baton Rouge, serving under Walter Monsour. In 2009, upon Monsour's retirement, Futrell was elevated to chief accounting officer by Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden, a Democrat.

A native of Baton Rouge, Futrell was reared in the Sherwood Forest subdivision. In 1978, he graduated from Baton Rouge High School. In 1982, he received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In 1985, he received the Juris Doctor degree from the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He is a U.S. Navy veteran and also a graduate of the Air Force Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. From 1987 to 1993, Commander Futrell served two tours of duty as an officer on nuclear submarines. On the USS Grant, near the end of the Cold War, Futrell came in constant contact with submarines of the former Soviet Union. The communists tracked the American vessels so that they could attack immediately if war were suddenly declared. The Americans tried to avoid attack to remain a nuclear deterrent against the Soviets. Futrell also served on the submarine, the USS Kentucky. Futrell said that he had considered becoming an attorney for the Judge Advocate General's office but instead entered a private firm in Baton Rouge.

In 2006, while on Vitter's staff, Futrell was recalled to active duty for six months during the Iraq War. For that service, he won the Bronze Star. Futrell was assigned to find still usable war materials and classified information whenever a military vehicle was damaged in combat. He soon returned to Vitter's office to manage the D. C. Madam scandal. He resigned as Vitter's state director, not because of that controversy, but because he desired to return permanently in Baton Rouge, and the state directorship had required travel throughout the state to Vitter's seven district offices.

In 2008, Futrell completed the leadership course offered by the interest group, the Council for a Better Louisiana. He then joined the Holden admnistration. Then CAO Walter Monsour said that Futrell immediately earned his trust through the handling of the city-parish $1.2 billion sewer program. Monsour describes Futrell as "a very smart person ... who had a great sense of when to say ‘yes, sir,’ when to say ‘no, sir,’ and when to step up and speak his mind, and I appreciated that. ..."