VIDALIA — The pool of candidates in the Concordia Parish district attorney’s race got a little wider this week when public defender Andy Magoun threw his hat into the ring.

Magoun was an Assistant District Attorney in the Seventh District Judicial Court from 2002 until 2006. After working in private practice for six months, he became a public defender in Concordia Parish.

The number one goal of his campaign is to be an independent prosecutor, Magoun said.

“I am not tied to anyone at the courthouse,” he said.

As a prosecutor, Magoun will be fair but will have zero tolerance for violent crime, he said.

“I want to be more visible in the public, a little more out there and be more familiar with people and kids in the community so if they do get in trouble I will know where they are coming from,” he said.

His experience as a public defender has given him a perspective on prosecution the other candidates in the race do not have, Magoun said.

“It gives me a different mindset when approaching cases,” he said.

Good judgment, common sense and conscience are a few of the things he will to bring to the DA’s office, Magoun said.

“I believe the true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can give him nothing in return,” he said. “My record shows that I am committed to principle even when what is right is not what is popular.”

Other plans include pursuing grants to help fund and expand, especially in Catahoula Parish, Magoun said.

“If I could sum my campaign up in one sentence, it would be ‘No more good old boy politics,’” he said.

Previously, Assistant District Attorneys Brad Burget and Ronnie McMillin have announced their intentions to run.

Official qualifying for the race will be next month.