Did Louisiana's Private Security Examiners Board regulate guards employed by private prisons?

Plain-English summary

A requester asked which government body regulated people employed by private prison contractors and whether the Louisiana Board of Private Security Examiners had authority or liability concerning their guards. The Attorney General said the board had no regulatory responsibility or authority over guards performing correctional services under the Louisiana Corrections Private Management Act. The Act expressly exempted private prison contractors and their employees from the private-security law.

The AG also said he found no state law assigning a governmental agency responsibility for regulating those contractor employees under the Act.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2001. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did private prison guards need regulation by the Private Security Examiners Board?
The AG said the board had no authority over employees performing correctional services under the cited private-management Act.

Why did the board lack authority?
The opinion cited LSA-R.S. 39:1800.7(D), which excluded those contractors and employees from the private-security chapter.

Did the AG name another agency as the employees' regulator?
No. He said he found no state law assigning a government agency responsibility for regulating these employees under the Act.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion described the board as having only powers delegated by statute. It read its enabling provision with the private-prison Act's express exemption in LSA-R.S. 39:1800.7(D).

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 37:3270
• LSA-R.S. 39:1800.7(D)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/01-0096

Original opinion text

April 27, 2001
OPINION 01-96

Mr. Wade D. Duty
Blackburn & Sulzer
5937 Jones Creek Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70817

Dear Mr. Duty:

You have requested an opinion regarding the regulatory authority of the Louisiana Board of Private Security Examiners (Board) over private contract prison guards. More specifically, your two-part inquiry presents the following issues:

(1) What governmental agency or entity is responsible for the regulation of those individuals employed by the company providing correctional contract services within the context of LSA-R.S. 39:1800 et seq.;

(2) Whether the Board bears any regulatory responsibility, authority or liability with respect to the guards employed by such private prison contractors.

The Board of Private Security Examiners is established and enabled by LSA-R.S. 37:3270. As a creature of the legislature, the Board possesses no inherent power or authority. Opinion of the Attorney General No. 90-126. The Board exercises only those powers and that jurisdiction delegated to it by the legislature by enabling statute.

LSA-R.S. 39:1800.4(A) authorizes the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and local governmental subdivisions to enter into contracts with qualified prison contractors for the financing, acquiring, designing, leasing, constructing and operating of facilities. Contracts with prison contractors shall be negotiated with the contractor found most qualified.

Therefore, in response to your first question, private security guards who contract with the state or local governmental subdivisions under the Louisiana Corrections Private Management Act, LSA-R.S. 39:1800.1 et seq., are mandated to act as legal custodians of human beings in punitive custody of the State of Louisiana or a local governmental subdivision by reason of judicial order. This authorization is a function of public law and is beyond the Board’s delegated authority to license and regulate such private security guards. Thus, we find no state law providing responsibility to a governmental agency

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Mr. Wade D. Duty
OPINION 01-96
Page 2

or entity for the regulation of individuals employed by private prison contractors under the Louisiana Corrections Private Management Act.

In regard to your second question, LSA-R.S. 39:1800.7(D) specifically exempts a private prison contractor and/or its employees from regulation under private security law as follows:

(D) The provisions of Chapter 47 of Title 37 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 shall not apply to a private prison contractor or its employees engaged in the performance of correctional services under the provisions of this chapter.

I hope this information adequately satisfies your concerns. If this office can be of further assistance in this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

__________
ANN EVANS WALL
Assistant Attorney General

RPI/AEW;dsc

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OPINION 01-96

84-A. Penitentiary Matters

LSA-R.S. 37-3270-71

The Board of Private Security Examiners does not maintain regulatory responsibility or authority over private contract prison guards.

Mr. Wade D. Duty
Blackburn & Sulzer
5937 Jones Creek Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70817

Date Received:
Date Released: April 27, 2001

ANN EVANS WALL
Assistant Attorney General