Could New Iberia's mayor restrict access to work areas in city facilities under the city charter?

Plain-English summary

New Iberia's mayor asked whether she could limit access to work areas in city facilities. In the official opinion, the AG looked to the city's charter rather than the Lawrason Act. It read the charter as making the mayor the city's chief executive and head of specified departments, with exclusive authority over daily operations of departments, buildings, and property.

On that reading, the AG said the mayor could use her discretion to restrict access to work areas for safety, employee privacy, efficiency, or other reasons. The six-page official packet includes an earlier AG opinion on New Iberia's charter and the division of authority between its mayor and Board of Trustees.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. 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

Could New Iberia's mayor set limits on access to city work areas?
The AG said the charter gave the mayor discretion to do so as part of daily executive control.

Did the opinion apply the Lawrason Act to New Iberia?
No. It said New Iberia operated under its home rule charter and resolved the question through that charter.

Could an individual trustee exercise the mayor's daily operational powers?
The attached earlier opinion said trustees acted as a collective legislative body and individual members did not direct city departments.

Background and statutory framework

The letter read Sections 14, 15, and 16 of New Iberia's charter. It distinguished the mayor's unrestricted executive powers from powers subject to board approval and cited attached Opinion 79-358 about the charter's structure.

Citations and references

• New Iberia City Charter Sections 14, 15, and 16, discussed in the original text
• LSA - R.S. 33:321, cited only to distinguish the Lawrason Act
• Attached Louisiana Attorney General Opinion 79-358

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/02-0058

Original opinion text

~tate o[ ~ouigia~a
One American Place
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
301 Main Street, Suite 1020
P.O. Box 94005
CIVIL DIVISION
TEL.: (225) 219-7711
BATON ROUGE
FAX: (225) 219-7712

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
A’FrORN FY GENERAL

~AR ~ 2
OPINION #02-0058

Mayor Ruth Fontenot
71 - Municipalities
457 East Main, Suite 300
The City Charter of New Iberia appoints the Mayor
chief executive officer, and grants the Mayor exclusive
New Iberia, LA 70560°3700
authority over day-to-day operations of the city and its
departments.

Dear Mayor Fontenot:

Your request for an opinion of the Attorney General regarding your authority to limit access to work areas at City facilities has been forwarded to me for response. Along with your request, you have attached an opinion of your City Attorney dated January 25, 2002, Section 6 through 27 of the New Iberia City Charter, and Attorney General Opinion No. 79-358 (dealing with the duties and powers of the Board of Trustees for the City of New Iberia).

As recognized in Attorney General Opinion No. 79-358, the City of New Iberia has chosen the Home Rule Charter form of government rather than the provisions of the Lawrason Act (found at LSA - R.S. 33:321 et seq.). As such, Attorney General Opinion No. 79-358 correctly recognized that questions regarding the Trustee’s authority (or, as here - the Mayor’s authority) are properly resolved by consulting the City Charter.

The City Charter, Section 14, details the powers and duties of the Mayor. Some powers are granted exclusively to the Mayor, while other powers are limited by language such as "shall be subject to the approval of the board", or "subject to applicable state law, ordinances, and civil service rules and regulations." Two relevant provisions grant authority to the Mayor with no restrictions:

1) Paragraph One appoints the Mayor ex officio head of the police, fire, street, and health departments.
2) Paragraph Four names the Mayor chief executive officer of the City.
Section 16 enumerates the powers and duties of Mayor and Trustees. This section contains eighteen paragraphs spanning approximately two letter-size pages. It does not contain any grant of authority for a Trustee to exercise the executive branch authority conferred to the Mayor elsewhere in the Charter, nor does it contain authority for the Board of Trustees to authorize actions taken by the Mayor pursuant to the Mayor’s powers and duties enumerated in Section 14.

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Mayor Ruth Fontenot
OPINION 02-0058
Page 2

Section 15 of the City Charter provides: "The mayor and board of trustees shall exercise all powers and duties conferred by law and the charter. In addition, they shall exercise all powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed by ordinance and not in conflict or inconsistent with the charter or law."

Thus, it is the opinion of this office that the City Charter of New Iberia grants the Mayor exclusive authority over day-to-day operations of the city departments, buildings, and property. Thus, the Mayor may exercise discretion to restrict access to work areas in the interests of safety, privacy of employees, city employee efficiency, or otherwise.

I trust that this addresses your inquiries. Please feel free to contact this office in the future should you require further assistance or information.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

I"I~OMAS L.-ENI~(~I:t~R,
Assistant Attorney General

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Enclosure

Page 3

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
W~ L U*.~ J.

April 27, 1979

OPINION NO. 79-358
71...MUNICIPALITIES
77...OFFICERS-LOCAL & MUNICIPAL, ET~
R.S. 33:321 i. The duties ar~powers of the Boar~ of Trustees for the city of New
Iberia are contained in the city charter.
2. The duties and powers enumerated in the charter are to be performed by the Board acting as a collective body.
3. The primary duty of the Board is to legislate.
4. The primary duty of the mayor is to insure the faithful execution of the laws.

Honorable’Lester Dauterive, Sr.
Councilman, District 5
City of New Iberia
524 Hacker Street
City of New Iberia, LA 70560
Dear Mr. Dauterive:
In your letter you request our opinion relative to the following questions:
(i) What are the duties and powers of a
"Councilman" for the city of New
Iberia acting individually and/or as a collective body?
(2) Who is considered a superior of a
"Counci Iman" ?
(3) What powers, if any, does a City
Councilman exercise over any de- partments of the City?
Preliminarily we note that the City of New Iberia was incorporated in 1839 pursuant to the grant of a special

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Honorable Lester Dauterive, Sr.
OPINION NO. 79-358
April 27, 1979
Page 2
legislative charter. See acts 1839, No. 16. Our ~search
~ndicates that the electors of your city have not elected~ to be governed by the Lawrason Act. Thus the statutory iprovisions of this act do not apply to the City of ~ew Iberia. Sez Lindsey v. Holland, 105 So. 2d 332 (1958),
’~-LSA-R.S. 33:321 and opinion of the Attorney General dated September 25, ]973 to Mr. James M. Dozier, Jr. Therefore, it is the oplnion of this office that the answers to your questions are contained in the Charter of the City of New Iberia.
In answer to your first question, the governing body for the City of New Iberia consists of the Mayor and the Board of Trustees. The duties and powers of the Mayor and Board of Trustees are specifically enumerated in section 16 of the Charter. Section 16 entitled "Powers and Duties of Mayor and Trustees Enumerated" provides as follows:
"The mayor and board of trustees shall have full power to adopt all ordinances that they may deem proper and consistent with the constitution and laws of the
State of Louisiana:..."
This section gives the Mayor and Board the power to enact legislation to regulate and preserve the peace and good order of the city; to build public roads and construc- tion; to exercise eminent domain; to maintain public utilities services and rate; to provide for sewerage; to levy and collect taxes; to clean the banks of the river; to protect public peace on water craft; to regulate and protect produce; to regulate and proscribe limits for alcoholic beverages and gambling houses; to regulate and suppress prostitution and other disorderly practices; to impose fines and penalties for breach of the by-laws and ordinances; to regulate weights and measures; to establish and maintain health, fire and police protection; and to pass laws relating to the good government of the city.
The general powers and duties of the Mayor and Board of Trustees are contained in Section 15. That section entitled -"Powers of Mayor and Trustees" generally provides as follows:
"The mayor and board of trustees shall exercise all powers and duties conferred by law and the charter. In addition, they shall exercise all powers and perform such

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Honorable Lester Dauterive, Sr.
OPINION NO. 79-358
April 27, 1979
Page 3 duties as may be prescribed by ordinance and not in conflict or inconsistent with the charter or law."
Furthermore, Section 6 provides that the~ayor ~nd Board shall perform all the duties of the Boar~of -Supervisors as prescribed in the General Election Daw. Section 18 al!ows the Mayor and Board to act as th~ Board --of Health for the city. Section 19 gives_ the Mayor and Board the power to establish and maintain a police and fire department. Section 20 gives the Mayor and Board the power to establish playground and recreationa! centers. Section 22 gives the Mayor and Board the power to authorize, by ordinance the appointment of city employees, prescribe their duties and fix their compensation.
These provisions of the Charter clearly indicate that an individual member of the Board of Trustees has no power to transact any official business for the city. In fact Section 27 provides that the Mayor and one-half of the members of the Board of Trustees constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business. Therefore it is the opinion of this office that the powers and duties enumerated in the Charter are to be performed by the members of the Board act- ing as a collective body.
The answers to your second and third questions are contained in Section 14 and the previously cited sections of the Charter.. Pursuant to Section 14 of the Charter the Mayor is the president of the Board of Trustees and has the authority to preside at all meetings. As president of the Board he can only vote in case of a tie. However he can veto any ordinance or law adopted by th~ Board. Further, he is the Chief Execu- tive officer of the city and as such charged with the duty of insuring the execution of the laws. He is also the ex officio head of the police, fire,street and health departments.
As ~ayor, he has direct supervisory authority over these departments. Individua! board members do not exercise any authority over the various departments of the city.
In conclusion, it is the opinion of this office that while the Board is empowered with the authority to legislate, -the Mayor, has been entrusted with the responsibility of in-

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Honorable Lester Dauterive, Sr.
OPINION NO. 79-358
April 27, 1979
Page 4
suring that the laws and ordinances of the city are faithfully executed.
If we can be of further assistance, please do not ~esitate to call on us.
Very truly yours,
WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF LOUISIANA

LOIS C. DAVIS
Assistant Attorney General
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