Could a St. Tammany council candidate run in a newly drawn district before moving into it?

Plain-English summary

After St. Tammany Parish redrew its council districts, the parish president asked whether candidates whose homes fell outside a new district could qualify for that district's council seat. In Opinion 03-0194, the AG said a candidate could qualify from an old district that was used, in whole or part, to create the new district. The candidate had to meet the one-year domicile and residence requirements in that old district before qualifying.

If elected, the candidate then had to move into the new district before being sworn into office. The opinion said failing to do so would leave the seat vacant. It applied that rule to incumbents seeking another council district and to other candidates whose homes stayed in an old district after reapportionment.

Currency note

The issue date is not legible in the available official extract. 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

Council candidates

The AG said a candidate did not have to move into the newly drawn district before qualifying when that district was created in whole or part from the old district where the candidate had lived and been domiciled for the required year. Election changed the timing: the person had to move before being sworn in.

Parish election officials

The opinion read the parish charter's one-year qualification language in light of reapportionment. It relied on an earlier AG opinion applying the state constitution's reapportionment provision to local offices and answered the requester's questions under that reading.

Common questions

Q: Could an incumbent run in another district without having lived inside its new boundaries for a year? A: Yes, if the new district was created in whole or part from the old district where the incumbent had met the one-year domicile and residence requirements.

Q: Did the candidate have to move into the new district before qualifying? A: No. The AG said a qualifying candidate could still live in the old district under the described reapportionment conditions.

Q: When did an elected candidate have to move into the new district? A: Before being sworn into office. The opinion said the seat would be vacant if the candidate failed to meet that condition.

Q: Did the rule apply only to sitting council members? A: No. The AG also applied it to other individuals who met the old-district requirements and sought a seat in a new district formed from it.

Background and statutory framework

The St. Tammany Parish Charter required a council member to be domiciled and resident for at least one year in an area within the district at qualification, and to continue residing within the district during the term. The request described federal preclearance of new boundaries shortly before qualification. The AG relied on Opinion 92-490 and the reasoning in Toldson v. Fair, 374 So.2d 759, 760 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1979), concerning electors affected by newly drawn districts.

Citations and references

Case cited: Toldson v. Fair, 374 So.2d 759, 760 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1979). Earlier opinion: Attorney General Opinion No. 92-490.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0194

Original opinion text

~tate of ~oui~iau~
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. Box 94005
CIVIL DIVISION
TEL.: (22S) 342-7013
FAX: (225) 342-2090
BATON ROUGE
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL
2 2003
OPII~(~ N~MBER 03-0194

           Kevin C. Davis,                             92-A-a      REAPPORTIONMENT

Parish President
A person m.~y qualif7 to run in a new reapportioned district which was created
in whole or in part from the old district where they are domiciled, They must
St. Tammany Parish
meet the domicile requirem~ts in the old district, and if elected they must
P. O. Box 628
move their domicile to the new dis~ct prior to being sworn into office or the
seat will be declared vacant.
Covington, LA 70434

Dear Mr. Davis:

Your request for an Attorney General’s opinion has been assigned to me for research and reply. You have several questions regarding your parish charter as follows:

Can an incumbent Councilman run for re-election in another District that he previously was not a resident within one (1) year from the date of qualifying?
Can an individual who resided within a specific District during the 2000 boundaries now qualify & run in the new District that has exorcized that person. In other words, if John Doe lived in District #A in 2000, and still resides in the same house in 2003, but the boundaries of District #A are re-drawn and do not include his home/property: a. Can this person qualify from his current home (in the old District) in 2003 and run for a seat in the new District #A, or b. Can this person qualify, run and be elected from his current home site in the. old District and then move into the new area within one year, or c. Must this person move into the new District before qualifying, or d. What are the time constraints of moving vis-A-vis the St.
Tammany Parish charter vis-A-vis the U.S. Department of Justice letter dated March 2003 which is with six (6) months of the projected 2003 election

Can an individual, who is not otherwise an incumbent Councilman, qualify and be seated in a District within which he has not resided for one (1) year, but otherwise may move into such District, upon election, within one (1) year?.

Page 2

Kevin C. Davis
Opinion Number 03-0194
Page -2-

Your letter states that the U.S. Justice Department preclearance and related notices as to the boundaries and precincts for the reapportioned council districts in St. Tammany Parish were not issued until six (6) months before the qualifying which takes place on August 27, 2003. Your letter further states that the St. Tammany Parish Charter requires that a person be a resident of a particular area for one (1) year before qualifying for councilman, as follows:

Section 2-01. Composition, Qualifications and Election.

B. A council member shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age and a qualified elector of the district from which elected at the time of qualification.
C. A council member shall have been legally domiciled and shall have actually resided for at least one (1) year immediately preceding the time established by law for qualifying for office in an area which, at the time of qualification, is within the district from which elected.
D. A council member shall continue to be legally domiciled and to actually reside within the district from which elected during the term of office. Should the legal domicile and/or actual residence of a council member change from the district from which elected, unless changed by reapportionment, the office shall automatically become vacant, which vacancy shall be filled as set out hereinafter.

As your letter pointed out, we reviewed a similar matter in Attorney General Opinion No. 92-490. In that opinion we relied on several cases* in extending the provision of Article 3, Section 4(B) of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution to local offices, such as councilmen and police jury districts. In Toldson v. Fair, 374 So.2d 759, 760 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1979) the court found that "the purpose of this section [Art. 3, § 4(B)] is to alleviate the inherent prejudice to an elector whose district has been divided or reconstructed into several new districts in which he could not meet the usual requirements of one year’s domicile." In accordance with this constitutional article, we opined in 92-490 that a person may qualify to run in a new reapportioned district, even if they do not presently live in the new district, as long as the new district was created in whole or in part from the old district where they are domiciled, provided they were domiciled in the old district for the required length of time prior to qualifying for the office. Additionally, we opined that if the person is elected to office in the new district, they must move their domicile to the new district prior to being sworn into office or the seat will be declared vacant.

° Pendleton v. Jackson, 256 So.2d 494 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1972); Toldson v. Fair, 374 So.2d 759 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1979).

Page 3

Kevin C. Davis
Opinion Number 03-0194
Page -3-

Thus, we respond to your questions as follows:

1. An incumbent councilman may run for re-election in another distdct that he previously was not a resident in for one year prior to qualifying provided the other district was created in whole or in part from the district existing prior to reapportionment where the incumbent councilman is domiciled and provided the incumbent councilman shall have been legally domiciled and shall have actually resided for at least one year prior to qualifying in that district existing prior to reapportionment that was used in whole or in part to create the new district.
2. a) yes, this person in your example may qualify from his current home (in the old district) in 2003 and run for a seat in the new district #A, provided the new district #A was created in whole or in part from the old district. b) no, if this person is elected to office in the new district, he must move into the new district before being sworn into office. c) no, this person does not have to move into the new district before qualifying. d) as stated herein, if this person in your example wins the office in the new district, he must move into the new district before being sworn into office or his office will be declared vacant for failure to meet the qualifications of office, which are that a council member in St.
Tammany Parish must continue to be legally domiciled and to actually reside within the district from which elected during the term of office.
3. Yes, any individual may qualify and be seated in a district within which he has not resided for one year prior to qualifying, provided the new district that he is qualifying in was created in whole or in part from the old district where he is domiciled, and if he is elected, he must move into the new district before being sworn into office.

Trusting that this opinion addresses all of your questions, we remain

Yours very truly,

ICHARD P. IEYOUB

~.I. ~
ORN~RAL

,~N(~’I’I~-I~G E RS LAP~ACE
Assistant Attorney General

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