Could a Louisiana village police chief give a police badge to someone who was not hired as an officer?

Plain-English summary

The mayor of Florien asked whether the police chief in a Lawrason Act village could give a police department badge to someone who had not been hired or considered for hiring as a police officer. In Opinion 03-0016, the Louisiana Attorney General found no authority to issue the badge to that person. He said a person using an unauthorized police badge could violate false-personation law if the required intent was present; the opinion did not find that any named person committed a crime.

The AG drew a distinction between a badge and an honorary commission. He said the elected chief could issue an honorary commission as part of day-to-day department operations without approval from the board of aldermen. That commission did not make its holder police personnel and gave the holder no law-enforcement authority or duties.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. 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.

What the opinion meant at issuance

Police chiefs

The AG found no authority for the chief to give a police department badge to someone not hired as an officer. He treated an honorary commission differently: the chief could issue one as a matter of daily operations, but it conferred no policing power.

Mayors and boards of aldermen

The opinion said the chief could issue an honorary commission without aldermen's approval. It separately noted that the chief did not have authority to hire or fire police personnel, though he could make recommendations on appointments, discipline, and dismissals.

People offered a badge or honorary commission

The opinion warned that assuming an unauthorized badge could fall under false-personation statutes when the required intent was present. It did not say a ceremonial commission itself allowed the person to act as a police officer.

Common questions

Q: Could an honorary commission make someone a police officer? A: No. The AG said the recipient had no law-enforcement authority or police department duties and was not police personnel.

Q: Could the police chief issue an honorary commission without a vote of the aldermen? A: The AG said yes, treating it as part of the elected chief's day-to-day management of the department.

Q: Could the chief issue a regular police badge to a person who had not been hired as an officer? A: The AG found no authority for that. He distinguished the badge from an honorary commission.

Q: Did carrying the unauthorized badge automatically prove a crime? A: The opinion discussed false-personation offenses that required intent to defraud or other stated intent. It said the individual could be in violation, not that criminal liability had been established on the facts provided.

Background and statutory framework

The request concerned a nonofficer displaying a Village of Florien police badge. The opinion discussed R.S. 14:112 on false personation and cited a separate peace-officer false-personation provision. The PDF extract gives that second provision as R.S. 14:122.2 in one paragraph and R.S. 14:112.1 near the end; this page leaves the discrepancy as printed. The first-page stamp reads JUN 2 0 2003, supporting June 20, 2003.

Citations and references

Authorities in the opinion: R.S. 14:112; R.S. 14:122.2; R.S. 14:112.1. The opinion also cites Atty. Gen. Op. 89-159 about a justice of the peace carrying a law-enforcement badge.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0016

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

One American Place
301 Mare Street, State 600
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O Box 94005
CIVIL DIVISION
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (225/ 342-2090
BATON ROUGE
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

JUN 2 0 2003
OPINION 03-16 60 - Law OlTK:ers - Authority & Jurisdiction
R.S. 14:112
R.S. 122.2

Mayor Rodney Jordan
The Mayor, having no authority to issue
an-irldividual a potice department badge
Village of Florien
who has not beer~ hired as a police office
P.O. Box 68
the-in~idu~l truing the badge may be in
Florien, LA 71429
vJoiiltion of false personation. The mayor
may issue an honorary commission witho approval of the Board of Aldermen.
Dear Mayor Jordan:

This office is in receipt of your request for an opinion of the Attorney General in regard to issuance of a police department badge to someone who is not an officer. You ask whether a Chief of Police in a Lawrason Act community can issue a badge and authorize the displaying of that badge by a person who has not been hired or considered for hiring as a policeman by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.

We find no authority for the issuance of a police department badge to a person who is not hired as a policeman for the Village, and as observed by this office in Atty. Gen. Op. 89- 159, "A Justice of the Peace is a judicial officer. He is not entitled incidental to that office to act as a law enforcement officer. Accordingly, the carrying of a badge is prohibited by R.S. 14:112 (False Personation)."

The latter statute provides that false personation is performance of an act with it~tent to defraud by "impersonating any public officer, * * * having special authority by law to perform an act affecting the rights or interests of another, or assuminq, without authority, of any uniform or badge by which such officer or person is lawfully distin,quished". (Emphasis added.)

Similarly, R.S. 14:122.2, false personation of a peace officer, sets forth that false personation of a peace officer with the intent of defraud includes "impersonating any peace officer or assuming, without authority, any uniform or badge by which a peace officer is lawfully distinguished".

Moreover, while this office has repeatedly recognized that the police chief has no authority to hire and fire police personnel, he does make recommendations to the mayor and board of aldermen for appointments, disciplinary action, and dismissals of police officers.

However, an individual who has an honorary commission from the Chief of Police does not have any law enforcement authority, no police department duties, and cannot be considered as police personnel and does not need the approval of the Board of Aldermen for the commission from the Chief of Police inasmuch as the elected chief of police is the

Mayor Rodney Jordan
Opinion 03-16
Page 2

final authority in the day-to-day operation of his office. Therefore, the issuance of the commission is an act in the day-to-day operation of the police department which does not need approval of the Board of Aldermen.

Therefore, if the individual in question has a police department badge which the Chief of Police has no authority to issue, the individual could be violating the criminal statute of false personation of an officer which carries a penalty of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than two years, or both. R.S. 14:112 defines false personation as including the assuming without authority of any badge by which a officer is distinguished with intent to defraud, and R.S. 14:112.1 also covers false personation of any peace officer or assuming without authority any badge by which a peace office is lawfully distinguished with intent to injure, defraud or secure any special privilege or advantage.

Accordingly, we hope this sufficiently answers your inquil’y, but if we can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BARBARA B. RUTLEDGE
Assistant Attorney General

RPI/bbr