Could a Louisiana waterworks district employee also serve on the parish police jury?

Plain-English summary

Billy Fletcher worked full time for the Maitland Water System and wanted to serve as an elected Catahoula Parish police juror. In Opinion 03-0151, the Attorney General concluded that he could not legally hold both positions at once. The decisive issue was the Police Jury's statutory authority to abolish the waterworks district that employed him.

The AG separated two provisions. The parish and the waterworks district were distinct political subdivisions, so he found the same-subdivision employment bar in LSA-R.S. 42:63(D) inapplicable. But LSA-R.S. 42:64 separately barred incompatible combinations when one position held power over the other. The Police Jury's power to disband the district brought that rule into play.

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

Waterworks district employee

The AG said Fletcher could not continue the water-system employment and hold the police-juror seat simultaneously on the facts presented. Separate governmental boundaries did not resolve the incompatibility arising from the jury's power over the district.

Parish and district officials

The opinion treated the waterworks district as a separate political subdivision while recognizing that the Police Jury could abolish it under LSA-R.S. 33:3811. That combination of facts drove the incompatibility conclusion.

Common questions

Q: Were the parish and waterworks district the same political subdivision? A: No. The AG said the district was a separate special district, so the same-subdivision employment rule did not decide Fletcher's case.

Q: Why were the two jobs still incompatible?
A: The Police Jury could abolish the district employing Fletcher. The AG applied LSA-R.S. 42:64 to that relationship and said he could not hold both positions simultaneously.

Q: Did the opinion bar Fletcher from running for the police jury? A: It addressed whether he could hold both jobs if elected and concluded he could not hold them at the same time; it did not declare his candidacy itself unlawful.

Background and statutory framework

Fletcher described full-time employment with the Maitland Water System and a possible elected parish seat. The opinion quoted LSA-R.S. 42:63(D) on dual employment, LSA-R.S. 42:62(9) on political subdivisions, LSA-R.S. 33:3811 on waterworks districts, and LSA-R.S. 42:64 on incompatible offices. Its conclusion relied on the Police Jury's authority to disband the district.

Citations and references

Statutes in the opinion: LSA-R.S. 42:63(D), LSA-R.S. 42:62(9), LSA-R.S. 33:3811, and LSA-R.S. 42:64.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0151

Original opinion text

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
CI~/IL DI~/ISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
FAX: (225) 342-2090
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

May 1,2003
OPINION 03-0151

   Mr. Billy Fletcher                        78       OFFICERS-Dual offlceholding

LSA-R.S. 42:61, et seq.; LSA-R.S. 42:63(D); LSA-R.S. 42:62(9)
Rt. 1, Box 6001
Elected police juror may not also serve as employee of waterworks
Clayton, LA 71326
distdct.

Dear Mr. Fletcher:

You state that you are presently employed on a full time basis by the Maitland Water System. You would like to also hold the elected office of police juror in Catahoula Parish. You ask whether the law permits you to hold both positions, if you are elected.

Your question prompts our review of the Louisiana Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law, LSA-R.S. 42:61, et seq., as applied to your factual circumstances.
LSA-R.S. 42:63(D) provides as follows:

(D) No person holdinq 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. In addition no sheriff, assessor, or clerk of court shall hold any office or employment under a parish governing authority or school board, nor shall any member of any parish governing authority or school board hold any office or employment with any sheriff, assessor, or clerk of court. (Emphasis added).

LSA-R.S. 42:62(9) further provides:

(9) "Political subdivision" means a parish, municipality, and any other unit of local government, including a school board and a special district, authorized by law to perform governmental functions. In addition for the purposes of this Part, mayor’s courts, justice of the peace courts, district attorneys, sheriffs, clerks of court, coroners, tax assessors, registrars of voters, and all other elected parochial officials shall be separate political subdivisions. (Emphasis added).

Page 2

Mr. Billy D. Fletcher
OPINION 03-0151
Page 2

Since the parish and the waterworks district, as a special district, are statutorily defined as separate political subdivisions, the prohibition of LSA-R.S. 42:63(D) quoted against the simultaneous holding of these offices above is inapplicable.

However, the prohibition of R.S. 42:64 is applicable in this instance. The Maitland Water System was created by the Catahoula Police Jury under the authority of LSA- R.S. 33:3811, et seq., which provides in pertinent part:

§3811. Division of parish into waterworks districts

Police juries may divide their respective parishes into one or more waterworks districts, with such name or number as the police jury may designate. The police jury may repeal any ordinance creatinq a waterworks district, or may abolish a waterworks district in its entirety or may change or alter the boundaries thereof; provided, however, that neither the existence nor the territorial boundaries of a waterworks district shall be changed in any manner which shall impair any obligations that may have been incurred by the waterworks district during the period of its existence ..... (Emphasis added).

LSA-R.S. 42:64 providing for the holding of incompatible offices states:

§64. Incompatible offices

A. 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:

(1) The incumbent of one of the offices, whether or not in conjunction with fellow officers, or employment has the power to appoint or remove the incumbent of the other, except that local governmental subdivisions may appoint members of the governing body to boards and commissions created by them and over which they exercise general powers as provided in Article VI, Section 15 of the Constitution of Louisiana. A board or commission so created may elect officers from its own membership, and if a joint commission of two parishes, except a joint commission that has as its function the operation and maintenance of a causeway and its related roadways, may also appoint a member of one of such parish’s governing body to be its general superintendent.

Page 3

Mr. Billy D. Fletcher
OPINION 03-0151
Page 3

Because LSA-R.S. 33:3811 allocates the authority to disband the waterworks district, of which you are an employee, to the police jury, the prohibitory language of LSA-R.S. 42:64 becomes applicable. Unfortunately, we conclude that you may not legally hold both positions simultaneously.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY"

ASSISTANt" ATTORNE--’Y GENERAL

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