Could a Louisiana police juror work for a water district or serve on its board?

Plain-English summary

The Caldwell Parish clerk of court asked two related questions: could a police juror work for a water and sewer district, and could a juror serve on its board? In Opinion 03-0169, the Attorney General gave different answers. District employment was incompatible with police-jury service because the jury could abolish the district. A commissioner seat was allowed under an express exception permitting a local governing body to appoint its members to boards it created.

The distinction rested on the separate parts of R.S. 42:64(A)(1) quoted in the letter. The general incompatibility applied to the employment relationship; the exception addressed service on the created district's governing board.

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

Police jurors considering district employment

The AG said they could not also be employees of the water and sewer district because their police jury retained authority to disband it.

Police jurors appointed as commissioners

The opinion said the Police Jury could appoint its own members to the district board under the statutory exception. That conclusion addressed commissioner service, not paid district employment.

Common questions

Q: Could a police juror take a job with the water district? A: No. The AG applied the incompatible-offices rule because the Police Jury could abolish the employing district.

Q: Could a police juror sit on the district's governing board? A: Yes. The statute quoted in the opinion allowed a local governing body to appoint its members to boards or commissions it created and generally controlled.

Q: Why did the opinion treat a board seat differently from district employment? A: It read an express exception for governing-body appointments to created boards. The district job did not fit that exception.

Background and statutory framework

The Caldwell Police Jury had created the district under LSA-R.S. 33:3811, which gave the jury authority to abolish or alter it subject to existing obligations. The opinion applied R.S. 42:64(A)(1)'s general incompatibility rule to an employee and its exception to a juror appointed as commissioner.

Citations and references

Statutes in the opinion: R.S. 42:64(A)(1) and LSA-R.S. 33:3811.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0169

Original opinion text

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
CI~/III DrvI$1ON
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
RICHARD P. IEYOUB 70804-9005 FAX: (225) 342-2090 ATTORNEY GENERAL

May 2, 2003
OPINION 03-0169

Honorable Eugene Dunn
78 Dual Officeholding
Caldwell Parish Clerk of Court
R.S. 42:64(A)(1)
Police juror may not be employed by the water district, but
P. O. Box 1327
may serve as water district commissioner.
Columbia, LA 71418

Dear Mr. Dunn:

You present the following two questions to this office:

1) May a police juror be employed by a water/sewer district?

2) May a police juror also serve as water/sewer district commissioner?

Our response to your first question is "no". The prohibition contained in R.S. 42:64 of Louisiana’s Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law is applicable in this instance.
The water district encompassing Caldwell Parish was created by the Caldwell 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 desi,qnate. The police jury may repeal any ordinance creatin,q a waterworks district, or may abolish a waterworks district in its entirety or may chan,qe 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 followinq 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:

Page 2

Mr. Eugene Dunn
OPINION 03-0169
Page 2

(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...

Because LSA-R.S. 33:3811 allocates the authority to disband the waterworks district to the police jury, the prohibitory language of LSA-R.S. 42:64 becomes applicable. A person employed by the water/sewer district cannot legally hold the office of police juror.

Our response to your second question is "yes". The remainder of R.S. 42:64(A)(1) is applicable and provides:

........ 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 .....

The police jury creates the water district, and may appoint a police juror(s) to serve as water district commissioner.

Should you have other questions in which we may provide assistance, please contact this office.

Very trulyyours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

.KE~RRY I./. KILPATRIC~//
A’SSIST/~NT ATTORNEY GENERAL

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