Could Harahan police accept patrol vehicles from a casino with sponsor decals attached?

Plain-English summary

Harahan's police chief asked whether the department could accept vehicles and equipment donated by the Treasure Chest Casino with small sponsor and problem-gambling decals. In Opinion 03-0098, the Attorney General said the described donation was permitted. He found no bar to a police department receiving vehicles from the casino or another company and drew on an earlier opinion allowing a city to acknowledge a private donation.

The AG considered the vehicles' value relative to the small advertising acknowledgment. He also stressed that the casino was in Kenner, outside Harahan police jurisdiction, and the department did not answer the casino's calls. The letter identified a problem-gambling helpline number for the proposed decal. Its conclusion concerned these facts and conditions, not every possible casino-police arrangement.

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

Harahan police officials

The opinion allowed acceptance of the vehicles and equipment under the proposed sponsorship arrangement. The AG's reasoning accounted for the department having no enforcement jurisdiction over the donor's casino site.

Casino and other private donors

The AG said a public body could receive a donation and acknowledge it. He evaluated the decal's advertising value against the donated vehicles and referenced the gambling-help statement proposed for the decal.

Common questions

Q: Could a casino donate patrol vehicles to a Louisiana police department? A: The AG allowed the specific Treasure Chest Casino donation to Harahan police, noting the casino was outside their jurisdiction and the sponsorship decals were modest relative to the vehicles.

Q: Did the public-assets ban prohibit a city from receiving a donation? A: The opinion quoted an earlier AG view that the state constitutional restriction on donating public assets did not itself bar a public body from receiving a private donation.

Q: Could the donated cars show the casino's name?
A: The AG approved the requested small sponsor decal alongside a problem-gambling helpline statement for this arrangement.

Background and statutory framework

The chief described old department vehicles and a casino offer to supply replacements with sponsor decals. The AG cited prior opinions on city and police donations, discussed La. R.S. 4:707(B) as relevant to charitable gaming donations while distinguishing this casino's noncharitable funds, and pointed to R.S. 27:27.3 on gambling-advertisement helpline numbers. The opinion was issued April 8, 2003.

Citations and references

Authorities in the opinion: La. R.S. 4:707(B); R.S. 27:27.3; Attorney General Opinions 02-288 and 01-263.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0098

Original opinion text

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

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (504) 342-7013
FAX: (504) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

APR 0 8 2003
48 Gambling - Lotteries, Bingo, Chanc~
OPINION 03-98
Promotional Schemes
R.S. 4:707(B)
R.S. 27:27.3

A police department would be
Mr. Peter L. Dale
permitted to accept the donation
of vehicles from the Casino along
Chief of Police
with the placement of decals on the
City of Harahan
veh.ic_~.~s showing the sponsorship
6441 Jefferson Highway
by the Casino and location for
gambling problems.
Harahan, LA 70125

Dear Chief Dale:

This office is in receipt of your request for an opinion of the Attorney General in regard to the City of Harahan Police Department accepting donations of police vehicles from companies involved with gaming. You indicate you are in a small municipality without any large industry to bring in revenues, and the Department is always looking for ways to supplement its budget. At this time your newest vehicles are from 1993, and the oldest from 1989. The Treasure Chest Casino has offered to supply vehicles and equipment for the use of the Police Department with a small decal on the fender that states "sponsored by the Treasure Chest Casino", and "if you think or have a gambling problem, call * * * " The Casino is about seven miles from the City of Harahan. Therefore, it is outside of the jurisdiction of the Harahan Police Department and no revenue is received from the Casino, and the Department does not respond to any cells that are placed by them.

You ask whether the Department is permitted to accept this donation of vehicles and equipment for the vehicles from the Casino, and if not from the Casino, what types of companies would be permitted to make this type of donation.

We find no prohibition with regard to the acceptance of the donation of vehicles by the Police Department from the Casino or any other company for this office recognized in Atty.
Gen. Op. 02-288 that the City of Hammond could receive the donation of funds for the web casting of city council meetings by reimbursement for the cost of the equipment needed for the web cast by Entergy, and could acknowledge it during the web cast. This office stated, "Although Article 7, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution prohibits the state or any of its political subdivisions from donating public funds or assets, it does not in anyway prohibit the state or a political subdivision from receiving a donation." Additionally, this office observed, "Certainly donations can be made with a condition and we see no problem with the City acknowledging the donation during the web cast."

Page 2

Chief Peter L. Dale
OPINION 03-98
Page 2

Moreover, this office stated In Atty. Gen. Op. 01-263, =It is important to note that donations to police departments are almost always considered to be public-spirited in nature, in accordance with La. R.S. 4:707(B), and therefore are a permissible use of charitable gaming funds. As such, any charitable organizations who wished to donate gaming proceeds to the City of Marksville would generally be allowed to do so."

However, the donations herein are not from charitable gaming funds, but we feel when considering the value of the police vehicles in relation to the value of the acknowledgment by the decals as a form of advertisement, this does not appear to be within the scope of the constitutional provision that prohibits donation of public funds insofar as the value received in return for the acknowledgment of the donor.

Also, we find it significant that the Harahan Police Department has no authority in Kenner where the Casino is located, and therefore, does not respond to any calls at the site.

In regard to the statement on the decal =if you think or have a gambling problem, call * *
¯", we would point out that R~S. 27:27.3 provides for advertisement of gaming activities in print the toll-free telephone number of the National Council on Problem Gambling or a similar toll-free number approved by the board shall be placed on such advertisement. The toll-free telephone number is 1-877-770-STOP (7867).

Accordingly, we would conclude that a police department would be permitted to accept the donation of the vehicles and equipment from the Treasure Chest Casino along with the condition of the placement of the requested decals on the vehicles, and above referenced telephone number.

We hope this sufficiently responds to your inquiry.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BARBARA B. RUTLEDGE (~ -
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

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