Could Ville Platte use city money for a youth apprenticeship and mentoring program?

Plain-English summary

Ville Platte proposed a mentoring and apprenticeship program for local teens it described as at risk and asked whether it could use city funds for the program. In Opinion 03-0230, the AG concluded that LSA-R.S. 33:7501 gave the city authority to fund the program as described. The opinion quoted the statute's authority to assist low-income and disadvantaged people through "employment and manpower training" and "youth employment and activities."

The AG also addressed the state constitution's general bar on donating public funds to private persons and its exception for social-welfare programs aiding needy people. To assure compliance with that provision, the AG suggested screening program participants using objective criteria to ensure they were needy and at risk. It phrased screening as a suggestion, not as a separate holding that a particular procedure was mandatory.

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

Ville Platte officials

The AG said the city had statutory authority to spend public funds on the proposed local apprenticeship and internship program. It suggested objective screening of the youth receiving assistance to support compliance with the constitutional rule on public funds.

Youth-program administrators

The opinion's approval concerned the described program for at-risk youth in Ville Platte. Its funding analysis relied on the statute's support for employment training and youth activities for people within the covered groups.

Common questions

Q: Could Ville Platte pay for an at-risk youth apprenticeship program? A: Yes. The AG concluded that LSA-R.S. 33:7501 authorized city funding for the program described in the request.

Q: Why did the constitutional ban on donating public funds matter? A: The opinion said public funds generally could not be donated to private persons, but identified an exception for social-welfare programs aiding needy people.

Q: Did the AG require a particular application or screening procedure? A: No particular procedure was specified. The AG suggested objective screening to ensure assisted youth were needy and at risk.

Q: Did the opinion approve every youth program a city might fund? A: It addressed Ville Platte's described apprenticeship and internship proposal under the cited statute and constitutional provision.

Background and statutory framework

The city attorney supplied a grant application describing mentoring, local work placements, and employment skills for teenagers. The AG read LSA-R.S. 33:7501 as authorizing municipal programs for employment training and youth activities serving specified groups. It considered that authority alongside La. Const. Art. VII, Sec. 14's limits on transfers of public funds and the provision for social-welfare aid to needy people.

Citations and references

Statute and constitutional provision quoted or cited: LSA-R.S. 33:7501; La. Const. Art. VII, Sec. 14.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0230

Original opinion text

One American Place
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
301 Main 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

SEP 2 6 2003
Opinion Number 03-0230

90-A-2 PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS - Loan, Pledge or Grants La. Const. ArL VII, Sec. 14
LSA-R.S. 33:7501
Mr. Charles E. Tate, City Attorney
City of Ville Platte has authority to utilize public funds to establish an
City of Ville Platte
apprenticeship/internship program, as described, for the assistance
P. O. Box 589
of at-risk youth within Ville Platte.
Ville Platte, Louisiana 70586

Dear Mr. Tate:

We are in receipt of your recent opinion request, on behalf of the City of Ville Platte, regarding the legality of the use of city funds to assist at-risk youth within the City of Ville Platte, through an apprenticeship/internship program.

In your capacity as City Attorney, and on behalf of the Mayor of Ville Platte, you have provided the undersigned with a copy of the City’s grant application to the Rapides Foundation, regarding Ville Platte’s proposed program, which grant application describes the City’s proposal in some detail. Pertinently, the grant application provides:

"The City of Ville Platte wishes to establish a Youth-At-Risk apprenticeship/internship mentoring program for at-risk teens ages 13-18 years. This program would focus on youth who are at-risk, especially those who have had no/few positives role models in their upbringing."

"...Many of these vulnerable youth:
Reside in single parent homes, where concern, attention, discipline are often lacking

• Come from families with low economic status Have parents who are unemployed or employed in low-paying jobs
• Are academic underachievers
  Do not realize the value of education because it was not regarded at home as a ’priority’
  Have a history of school truancy, behavior problems, and suspensions
• Have no one who has encouraged them to ’dream’ and to have aspirations for a successful future
• Are unaware of the opportunities beyond their small world"

Page 2

Opinion Number 03-0230
Mr. Charles E. Tate, City Attorney
City of Ville Platte
Page -2-

"...these young people would benefit greatly from working in a structured environment with a dependable, capable, and caring adult as a mentor.
The mentor would meet the unfulfilled need in each of these young lives as a guide, leader, teacher, and inspiration."

"This mentoring/apprenticeship program would provide these youth with opportunities to:

• Develop a positive and consistent relationship with a caring adult - Observe the world of work in an up-close and personal way, as they work in local businesses
• Develop work ethics - promptness, taking direction, following instructions, completing tasks, social interaction with coworkers and the public, phone etiquette and courtesy, neatness, acceptable personal appearance, etc.
• Develop work skills - skills related to the assigned business location
• Learn what it means to ’go to work’ and ’earn’ a living wage -Realize the value of education and that education is the key to getting a good job, ensuring a successful future"

Implicitly, this inquiry must be examined in light of La. Const. Art. VII, Sec. 14, which generally prohibits, subject to certain exceptions, the "...funds, credit, property or things of value of the state or of any political subdivision..." from being "...loaned, pledged, or donated to or for any person, association, or corporation, public or private."

A notable exception to the general prohibition established by Art. 1~, is found at Art. VII, Sec. 14(B) which provides that nothing in Art. VII, Sec. 14 shall prevent "...the use of public funds for programs of social welfare for the aid and support of the needy..."

The Supreme Court has interpreted Art. VII, Sec. 14 to be violated when the State or a political subdivision seeks to give up something of value when it is under no obligation to do so. City of Port AIlen v. Louisiana Municipal Management Agency, 439 So.2d 339 (La. 1983). This office has construed the "legal obligation" requirement referred to in the City of Port Allen decision to be a requirement that the purpose and power for a particular expenditure of public funds be "sanctioned" or "authorized by law" or in the "discharge of a legal duty". Attorney General Opinion No. 92-204. Our opinions also refer to the requirement for "an underlying legal obligation or authority" for the transfer of public funds. Attorney General Opinions Nos. 92-543, 92-494, 92-402, 92-204.

As noted in your correspondence, LSA-R.S. 33:7501 provides municipalities such as the City of Ville Platte with broad power and authority to provide for the support of the poor and necessitous within their respective jurisdictions. Pertinently, the powers bestowed upon Ville Platte by LSA-R.S. 33:7501, "[f]or the assistance of the unskilled poor, low-income persons; disadvantaged persons; unemployed persons [and] students

Page 3

Opinion Number 03-0230
Mr. Charles E. Tare, City Attomey
City of Ville Platte
Page -3-

from low-income families..." include, but are not limited to, the power to establish programs for "employment and manpower training", and most pertinently, for "youth employment and activities".

In our opinion, LSA-R.S. 33:7501 provides clear authority for the City of Ville Platte to utilize public funds to establish an apprenticeship/internship program, as described above, for the assistance of at-risk youth within the City of Ville Platte. In order to assure compliance with La. Const. Art. VII, Sec. 14, we suggest that those youth who receive assistance through the City’s program are screened, pursuant to objective criteria, to ensure that they are truly needy and at-risk.

We trust the foregoing to be of assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we can be of assistance to you, the Mayor, or the City of Ville Platte in other areas of the law.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

fl’E,~ N E-MARl E Z.E R I’1~ G L~ BARHAM (s~_~tant AttorneyGeBeral

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