Could an elected Louisiana constable keep a parish road-supervisor job?

Plain-English summary

An elected constable asked whether he could continue working for the parish as a road supervisor. In Opinion 03-0271, the AG said yes. The opinion treated the ward from which the constable was elected as his political subdivision, while his parish employment was in a separate political subdivision.

The dual-officeholding statute quoted by the AG barred an elected local official from employment in the same political subdivision as the elective office. Because the road-supervisor job was with the parish rather than the ward, the AG concluded the combination did not violate that restriction. The opinion also described the separate rule against another full-time appointed office, but classified the question presented as parish employment.

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

Elected constable

The AG allowed continued parish road-supervisor employment because the employer was not the ward political subdivision in which the constable held elected office.

Parish officials

The opinion identified the ward and parish as separate political subdivisions for the employment restriction it applied. Its answer concerned this combination of elected office and parish employment.

Common questions

Q: Could the constable keep working full time as a parish road supervisor?
A: The AG said the described parish employment was permitted because the elected constable's political subdivision was the ward, not the parish employer.

Q: Why did the same-subdivision employment ban not apply?
A: The opinion said a constable was elected from a ward and treated parish government as a separate political subdivision for the job at issue.

Q: Did the opinion decide whether a constable could hold other public positions?
A: It answered the road-supervisor employment question. The quoted law also addressed other offices, but the AG did not decide a different combination of positions.

Background and statutory framework

The AG applied LSA R.S. 42:63(D)'s dual-officeholding and employment rules and cited R.S. 13:2583(B) for a constable's ward-based office. It concluded that employment by the parish road department was outside the same-subdivision employment prohibition on the facts presented.

Citations and references

Statutes quoted or cited: LSA R.S. 42:63(D); R.S. 13:2583(B).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0271

Original opinion text

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
FAX: (225) 342-2090
70804-9005
ATI’ORN EY GENERAL

July 17, 2003
OPINION 03-0271

Mr. Richard Z. Morse
78 Officers - dual officeholding
P. O. Box 383
LSA R.S. 42:63(D); LSA R.S. 42:63(9)
Robert, LA 70455
Constable may hold employment with the parish as road supervisor.

Dear Mr. Morse:

You ask this office to advise whether you may hold the elected office of constable and retain employment with the parish as road supervisor.

The pertinent statutory provision in this matter is LSA R.S. 42:63(D) which states in applicable part:

"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 .qovernment of this state, or in the same political subdivision in which he holds an elective office.

The political subdivision of a constable is the ward from which he is elected. See R.S.
13:2583(B). The law does not prohibit a local elected ward official from holding full-time employment in a separate political subdivision in which he serves as an elected officer.
He is barred only from holding another employment or office in the political subdivision from which he is elected. LSA R.S. 42:63(9) defines "political subdivision" as follows:

(9) "Political subdivision" means a parish, 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.

Your employment with the parish constitutes employment in a separate political subdivision. It is our opinion that you may serve as constable and continue in your

Page 2

Mr. Richard Z. Morse
OPINION 03-0271
Page 2

employment as road supervisor without violating the dual officeholding law.

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

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

ASSISTA~NT ATTORNEY GENERAL

KLK:ams