Did a Port Allen police officer have to resign or take leave to run for city marshal?

Plain-English summary

In Opinion 03-0388, a Port Allen police officer asked whether he had to leave his city job before running for city marshal. The Louisiana AG answered no: no statute required an unclassified public employee to resign or take mandatory leave merely to become a candidate for local office.

The opinion drew a limit around the employee's regular work. Campaign activity could not interfere with assigned duties. It cited an earlier AG opinion warning that failure to perform those duties could lead to public payroll fraud charges under LSA-R.S. 14:138. The letter addressed candidacy while employed; it did not decide whether the officer could hold both positions after an election.

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

City employees seeking local office

The AG told the requesting police officer he need not resign or take mandatory leave to run for city marshal. The letter states a general rule for unclassified employees but does not identify the officer's classification. Its answer was tied to candidacy and regular job duties.

Municipal police departments

The opinion distinguished an employee's campaign from the employee's assigned police work. It said campaign involvement could not interfere with performance of those duties.

Common questions

Did the officer have to resign before running for city marshal?

No. The AG said no statute imposed that requirement on an unclassified public employee seeking local elective office.

Did the officer have to take campaign leave?

No mandatory leave was required by the rule stated in this opinion.

Could campaigning take time away from police duties?

The AG said campaign involvement could not interfere with regularly assigned duties and cited an earlier opinion discussing possible public payroll fraud charges for failing to perform them.

Did the opinion approve holding both the police job and marshal's office after winning?

It answered whether the officer could remain employed during candidacy. It did not answer the separate question of holding both positions after the election.

Background and statutory framework

Michael A. Zito, a full-time Port Allen police officer, planned to run for city marshal of the Port Allen City Court. The AG found no statute requiring an unclassified employee to resign or take leave to become a local candidate. It cited Attorney General Opinion 86-263 for the work-duty limit and that opinion's reference to LSA-R.S. 14:138.

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 14:138: public payroll fraud provision cited in the AG's discussion of duties.
• Attorney General Opinion 86-263: earlier AG discussion quoted on failure to perform regular work.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0388

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 70804-9005 FAX: (225) 342-2090
ATTORNEY GENERAL

OCT 2 0 2O03
OPINION 03-0388

78-Dual Officeholding
Mr. Michael A. Zito
No statute requires an unclassified employee to resign or take a
917 Brantford Drive
leave of absence from a public employment in order to become a
candidate for local elective office. However, the involvement in a
Port Allen, LA 70767
political campaign may not interfere wit~ the performance of the
employee’s regularly assigned duties.
Dear Mr. Zito:

Your correspondence of recent date relates that you are currently a full-time employee of the City of Port Allen Police Department where you hold the position of police officer.
You ask whether or not the law requires you to resign your employment prior to the upcoming election for the office of City Marshall, City Court, City of Port Allen, as you intend to be a candidate for the position.

You need not take a mandatory leave of absence during your candidacy, nor must you resign from your employment in order to run for elective office.

There is no statute that requires an unclassified employee to resign or take a leave of absence from a public employment in order to become a candidate for local elective office. However, the involvement in a political campaign may not interfere with the performance of the officer or employee’s regularly assigned duties. Note Attorney General Opinion 86-263 contemplates that "failure to perform the [the employee’s] regular working duties could result in charges pursuant to LSA-R.S. 14:138 which prohibits pubic payroll fraud."

We hope the foregoing is helpful to you. Should you have other questions in which we may provide assistance, please contact this office.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:
KEI~RY g. KILPATRIO¥~
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

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