Could a Louisiana school board tax auditor also serve on the parish council?

Plain-English summary

A St. John the Baptist Parish school board employee was elected to the parish council while working as a sales and use tax auditor. The school board asked whether his access to confidential taxpayer information, and the council's contracts with taxpayers, created a prohibited conflict. In Opinion 03-0145, the Attorney General found no violation of the dual-officeholding or incompatible-office statutes from holding those two roles.

The AG explained that the auditor examined taxes paid by taxpayers and collected by the school board. He did not audit the council's accounts or approve its budget, the incompatibility described in R.S. 42:64. The opinion did not decide whether access to confidential information created an ethics violation. It recommended taking that separate concern to the Louisiana State Board of Ethics.

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

School board auditor and parish council member

The AG said the employee's school-board auditing role did not fall within the statutory bar on auditing the accounts of the other office. His answer did not clear the employee under ethics law; that question was referred to the ethics board.

School board and parish officials

The opinion confirmed an earlier AG opinion allowing the same combination of employment and elected office. It distinguished confidential taxpayer information from the statutory test for incompatible offices and did not give a final ruling on misuse of that information.

Common questions

Q: Could the school board auditor serve on the parish council at the same time? A: Under the dual-officeholding provisions the AG reviewed, yes. The auditor did not audit the parish council's accounts or approve its budget through the school-board job.

Q: Did access to taxpayers' private information make the two positions incompatible under R.S. 42:64? A: The AG said it did not establish the statutory incompatibility he examined. He separately referred the possible ethics issue to the Louisiana State Board of Ethics.

Q: Did the AG decide whether the council member could use confidential tax data in contract decisions? A: No. The requester raised the concern. The AG noted that other council members could inquire into contractors and that public bid law applied, then referred the ethics question to the Louisiana State Board of Ethics.

Background and statutory framework

The requester had previously obtained Attorney General Opinion 00-16 on whether the elected council member could also hold the school-board auditor job. This opinion revisited the matter after the requester described access to taxpayer data and council contracts. It examined R.S. 42:63 and R.S. 42:64, especially the incompatibility for one position charged with auditing the other position's accounts or approving its budget.

Citations and references

Statutes in the opinion: R.S. 42:63 and R.S. 42:64. Earlier AG opinions discussed: 00-16 and 86-351.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0145

Original opinion text

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

APR-2 5 2003
OPINION 03-145
78 - Officers - Dual Office
Holding
R.S. 42:64

Ms. Ann LaBorde, Executive Director,
There is no prohibition for a
member of the Parish Council
Personnel & Legal Services to hold employment as a tax
St. John the Baptist Parish School Board
auditor at the School Board
118 W. 10th Street
where the tax is collected.
Reserve, LA 70084

Dear Ms. LaBorde:

This office is in receipt of your request for an opinion of the Attorney General in regard to whether a conflict of interest exists for a public officer to perform audits of taxes levied by the body of which he is a member, pointing out an employee of the school system was elected to serve on the Parish Council. You indicate this councilman’s position at the School Board is that of Sales and Use Tax Auditor and he is privy to taxpayer information that is not open to the public. The parish council members enter into contracts with taxpayers, and you note that a councilman, who is also an auditor, could have the ability to enter into a contract in favor of one taxpayer over another based on knowledge of tax information which is confidential and not open to the public or other parish officials.

You ask whether it is a conflict of interest for such a public official to perform audits of taxes levied by the body of which he is a member; and does this situation, being analogous to having insider trading information, disadvantage the taxpayer and/or other council members?

As you note, in Atty. Gen. Op. 00-16 you had requested the opinion whether an elected member of the Parish Council could hold the employed position as Sales and Use Tax Auditor for the Parish School Board, and no prohibition was found. This office concluded it was =permissible for an elected member of the St. John the Baptist Parish Council to also hold the employed position as Sales and Use Tax Auditor for the St. John the Baptist School Board."

Again we do not find any statutory provision which would prohibit a person employed as a school board auditor from seeking election to the Parish Council. It is our understanding that pursuant to his employment he audits the amount paid by tax payers to the School Board which is the tax collector. We do not find this places him within the prohibition of the dual officeholding provisions of R.S. 42:63 nor incompatible offices under R.S. 42:64.

Page 2

Ms. Ann LaBorde
OPINION 03-145
Page 2

R.S. 42:64 sets forth that =no other offices or employments shall be held by the same
.person~ under the conditions therein, and Paragraph (5) provides for the following:

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.

As tax auditor he is charged with auditing the accounts of taxes paid by taxpayers and collected by the school board, but he is not auditing the accounts of the council nor approving the budget of the council in his position as tax auditor.

Moreover, while he may have information of the financial status of parties that are not of public record but who are interested in contracting with the governing authority, this does not mean that other members of the Parish Council cannot make inquiries from available sources to determine the solvency and reputation of parties seeking contracts with the Parish, and as a political subdivision the Parish is subject to the provisions of the Public Bid Lawfor public works and materials or supplies. Therefore, as this office recognized in Atty. Gen. Op. 86-351, =The only requirement of state law upon the Parish Council is that the contracts be awarded and negotiated in the best interest of the public body."

As to whether there would be some ethical violation for a school board auditor, who is privy to taxpayer information, to also become a member of the Parish Council being the body which levies the taxes, and votes on whether or not to contract with various taxpayers, we would recommend that you present your ethi.ca. I concern to the Louisiana State Board of Ethics, 8401 United Plaza Blvd., Suite 200, Baton Rouge, LA 70809; and telephone, 225- 922-1400, but we do not find and violation of the dual officeholding statutes.

We hope this information will be of assistance.

Very Truly Yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

~ARBARA B." RUTLEDGE
Assistant Attorney General

RPI/bbr