Could Springhill's elected marshal also serve part-time as a district attorney investigator?

Plain-English summary

An attorney for Springhill's elected Ward II marshal asked if the marshal could also serve as a part-time criminal investigator for the district attorney's office. In Opinion 03-0074, the Louisiana Attorney General said the dual-officeholding laws allowed the described combination. He treated the District Attorneys' Investigator position as an appointive office, separate from the marshal's local elected office, and relied on the investigator appointment being part-time.

The AG identified the district attorney and municipal offices as belonging to separate political subdivisions for this law. He also quoted a statutory definition of part-time work as less than seven hours per day and less than thirty-five hours per week. The opinion did not answer the request's separate ethics-law question; its conclusion was framed under the dual-officeholding and dual-employment laws.

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

Elected marshals

For the Springhill marshal and the part-time appointment described, the AG found no dual-officeholding violation. His answer depended on the investigator role being part-time and in a different political subdivision.

District attorneys

The opinion described statutory authority to appoint a District Attorneys' Investigator and treated that post as an appointive office. It did not decide whether any particular ethics provision allowed the dual role.

Common questions

Q: Could the elected marshal take the DA investigator appointment? A: The AG said the dual-officeholding laws did not bar the appointment if the investigator role was part-time as described.

Q: Was the investigator role just ordinary employment for this analysis? A: No. The AG treated the statutorily authorized District Attorneys' Investigator as an appointive office.

Q: Did the AG clear the arrangement under ethics law? A: No. Although the request asked whether the combination was ethically permissible, the opinion's analysis and conclusion addressed the dual-officeholding and dual-employment laws.

Background and statutory framework

The letter cited LSA-R.S. 16:13 for appointment of investigators, R.S. 42:62 for office and political-subdivision definitions, and LSA-R.S. 42:63(D) for holding a local elective office with a part-time appointment in another subdivision. The source gives no readable issue date beyond its opinion number.

Citations and references

Authorities in the opinion: LSA-R.S. 16:13; R.S. 42:62(9); LSA-R.S. 42:63(D).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0074

Original opinion text

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

One American PJace
301 Mare Street, Suite 600
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. Box 9400,5
CIVIL DIVISION
TEL : (225) 342-7013

BATON ROUGE
FAX. (225) 342-2090

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

OPINION NUMBER 03-0074

           E. Charles Jacobs, Esq.                     78 -      OFFICERS - Dual Office Holding

An elected marshal of a Lawrason Act municipality may serve in the
Smith & Jacobs
appointed position of District Attorneys’ Investigator on a part-time
206 Butler Street / P. O. Box 7
basis and not be in violation of Louisiana’s dual officeholding and dual
employment laws.
Springhill, LA 71075

Dear Mr. Jacobs:

Your request for an Attorney General’s opinion on behalf of the Ward II Marshal in Webster parish has been assigned to me for research and reply. Your letter states that Mr. Morris McClary has served in the elected position of marshal for ward II in Webster parish since 1991, and you seek a legal opinion on the following:

Is it ethically and legally permissible for Marshall McClary, currently serving as the duly elected Marshall of Ward II, Webster Parish, Louisiana to also serve simultaneously as a part-time criminal investigator for the Bossier/Webster Parish 26th Judicial District Attorney’s office?

District Attorneys are authorized by the constitution and laws of this state to select assistants and other personnel. LSA-Const. Art. V, §26(1974), R.S. 16:1.
Investigators may be appointed as follows:

A. Each district attorney of this state is hereby authorized to employ one special investigator in addition to any others previously authorized by law, to be know by the title of ’District Attorneys’ Investigator’.
B. The special investigator shall receive an annual salary payable by the state, of six thousand dollars. In addition, the governing authorities of the parish or parishes comprising any judicial district may provide and pay an additional compensation to these investigators.
C. No district attorney shall employ a special investigator as authorized by this section until and unless the funds to pay the state’s portion of the salaries of such special investigators are appropriated or otherwise made available therefore.

LSA-R.S. 16:13.

Page 2

E. Charles Jacobs, Esq.
Opinion Number 03-0074
Page -2-

Investigators of the district attorneys’ offices are peace officers, as follows:

The investigators of the district attorneys’ offices shall be peace officers with all privileges, immunities, and defenses accorded to peace officers, except that they shall not have the right to make arrests, except as citizens under Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 214. They shall have the same territorial jurisdiction as the district attorney for whom they work.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, investigators of a district attorney’s office shall not receive state supplemental pay.

LSA-R.S. 16:13.1.

Because of LSA-R.S. 16:13, it is our opinion that the position of "District Attorneys’ Investigator" is an appointed position, as defined in R.S. 42:62(2):

(2) ’Appointive office’ means any office in any branch of government or other position on an agency, board, or commission or any executive office of any agency, board, commission, or department which is specifically established or specifically authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof and which is filled by appointment or election by an elected or appointed public official or by a governmental body composed of such officials of this state or of a political subdivision thereof.

Mr. McClary is the elected marshal for the City of Springhill, which is a Lawrason Act municipality, wherein the law provides for the election or appointment of a marshal as follows:

The marshal who is the chief of police in such municipalities shall be elected at large, provided that, notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, a majority of the qualified electors voting therein may, at a special election called by the board of aldermen for that purpose, authorize the mayor to thereafter appoint a marshal with the approval of the board of aldermen ...

LSA-R.S. 33:381.1.

Louisiana’s dual officeholding and dual employment laws allow a person to hold an elective office in a political subdivision of this state and at the same time to

Page 3

E. Charles Jacobs, Esq.
Opinion Number 03-0074
Page -3-

hold a part-time appointive office in the government of a political subdivision, as follows:

Do No person holding an elective office in a political subdivision of this state shall at the same,time hold another elective office or full-time appointive office in the government of this state or in the government of a political subdivision thereof. No such person shall hold at the same time employment in the government of this state, or in the same political subdivision in which he holds an elective office ....

LSA-R.S. 42:63(D). Under the definition of "political subdivision" in R.S. 42:62(9), the district attorneys and all other elected parochial officials are separate political subdivisions for the purposes of Louisiana’s dual officeholding and dual employment laws. Furthermore, "part time" is defined as less than seven hours per day of work and less than thirty-five hours per week of work. R.S. 42:62(4) and (5).

In conclusion, it is our opinion that Mr. McClary, as the elected marshal of the City of Springhill, would not be in violation of Louisiana’s dual officeholding and dual employment laws if he were appointed to the position of District Attorneys’ Investigator and served in that capacity on a part-time basis. Trusting that this opinion addresses all of your concerns, we remain

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P~ IE.y;~.UB
,a~l’T O R NEY ~L~,,’~ RAL

~NGIE\ROGERS LAPLACE
Assist~lht Attorney General

RPI/ARL;mjb