Could Caddo Parish Fire District Two's chief serve on the board that controlled its funds?

Plain-English summary

A resident asked whether Caddo Parish Fire District Two's fire chief could also sit on that district's board of commissioners. In Opinion 03-0114, the Attorney General answered no. The chief held paid employment with the district; a commissioner held a part-time appointive office. State law assigned the board administration of all district funds, including the operating fund from which the chief received pay.

The AG applied the dual-officeholding rule against combining positions when funds received by one office or employment are deposited with or turned over to the other. He said the board's control of the chief's compensation fund brought the proposed arrangement within that incompatibility provision. The conclusion rested on the stated district structure and funding facts.

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

Fire chief

The opinion said the chief's paid employment could not be held at the same time as this commission seat because the board administered the fund paying the chief.

Fire district and parish officials

The AG identified the board's statutory control of all district funds as decisive. He did not rely solely on the fact that one role was employment and the other was a part-time appointment.

Common questions

Q: Could the fire chief sit on the same district's governing board? A: No. The AG concluded the positions were incompatible under the fund-control provision of R.S. 42:64.

Q: Did a part-time commission seat avoid the conflict? A: No. The opinion classified the seat as part-time but still applied the incompatibility rule because the board managed the funds paying the chief.

Q: Which fact made the two jobs incompatible?
A: The district statute gave the board administration of all district funds, and the chief was paid from the general operating budget those funds supported.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion quoted definitions from the dual-officeholding law and R.S. 42:64's incompatibility provisions. A footnote quoted R.S. 40:1496.7 assigning Caddo Fire District Two's board responsibility for operations and all district funds. The letter is dated March 20, 2003.

Citations and references

Authorities in the opinion: R.S. 42:64; R.S. 40:1496.7.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0114

Original opinion text

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

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Matn Street, Suite 600
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (225) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL
March 20, 2003
OPINION 03-0114

78 Dual Officeholding
R.S. 42:64; R.S. 40:1496.7
Mr. William T. Olague
Fire chief may not legally hold a position as
3310 Lorraine
appointed commissioner of the fire protection
district board as the fire protection district board Shreveport, LA 71107 administers the general operating fund from which the fire chief is compensated.
Dear Mr. Olague:

You have asked this office to determine whether the Fire Chief of Caddo Parish Fire District Two may also serve as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Fire District Two. We conclude that the law prohibits this arrangement.

The fire chief, who is compensated by the fire protection district, holds a position of employment with the fire protection district. A member of the board of commissioners of the fire protection district holds part-time appointive office.1 We make these assertions based upon the definitional section of the Louisiana Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Laws, R.S. 42:61, et seq., which pertinently state:

(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.
(3) "Employment" means any job compensated on a salary or per diem basis, other than an elective or appointive office, in which a person is an employee of the state government or of a political subdivision thereof.
(4) "Full time" means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment and which is at least seven hours per day of work and at least thirty-five hours per week of work.

1R.S. 40:1496.7, pertains to the board of Caddo Parish Fire District Number Two and provides:
Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 40:1495 and R.S. 40:1496, a board of commissioners of the Caddo Parish Fire District Number Two is hereby created. The board of commissioners shall perform and exercise all duties, functions, and powers provided in this Part, and shall be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the d~strict. The members of the board of commissioners shall receive compensation as provided by R.S. 40:1498. The board shall consist of five members appointed by the governing authority of the parish of Caddo, and each member shall be a resident and elector of the parish of Caddo and shall serve on such board at the pleasure of the governing authority of the parish of Caddo. All funds of the Caddo Parish Fire District Number Two shall be administered by the board.

Page 2

Mr. William T. Olague
OPINION 03-0114
Page 2

(5) "Part time" means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment which is less than the number of hours of work defined in this Section as full time.

Of concern are the incompatibility provisions of R.S. 42:64, providing:

In addition to the prohibitions otherwise provided in this Part, no other offices or employments shall be held by the same person in combination if any of the following conditions are found to pertain and these prohibitions shall exist whether or not the person affected by the prohibition exercises power in conjunction with other officers:

(4) The incumbent of one office, whether or not in conjunction with fellow officers, or employment is required by law to execute orders and follow directions given by the incumbent of the other office or employment.
(5) One office, whether or not in conjunction with fellow officers, or employment is charged with auditing the accounts of or approving the budget of the other position.
(6) Funds received by one office or employment are deposited with or turned over to the other office or position. (Emphasis added).

R.S. 40:1496.7 states that "all funds of the Caddo Parish Fire District Number Two shall be administered by the board". You state in your correspondence that the fire chief is compensated from the general operating budget of the fire district which by law are administered by the board. These facts alone would, in our opinion, invoke the incompatibility provisions of R.S. 42:64(A)(6) quoted above. For this reason, we conclude that the two positions may not be concurrently held.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

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