Who paid an off-duty Louisiana police officer's fee for testifying in city court?

Plain-English summary

In 2005, the Louisiana Attorney General concluded that the municipal governing authority, rather than a police officer's employer, paid statutory witness fees when an officer appeared in city court on official business during off-duty time. The money came from a special fund of court costs assessed and collected in qualifying cases. The AG identified an exception where the governing authority and employer entered a cooperative agreement for transmitting the fees to the employer.

The statute quoted in the opinion set the fee at $50 per day per case for the covered officer and tied the court costs to guilty pleas or convictions. The opinion addressed payment responsibility under the 2004 amendment, not any present-day rate.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2005. 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.

Common questions

Did the police department itself pay the officer's witness fee? A: The AG said the governing authority paid it from the court-cost fund, unless a cooperative agreement directed transmission to the employer.

Did the fee apply to testimony during an officer's regular work hours? A: The quoted provision covered required appearances during time when the officer was otherwise not required to report to work or perform official duties.

Where did the witness-fee fund come from?
A: The opinion said city-court costs assessed and collected in cases ending in a guilty plea or conviction went into a special fund maintained by the governing authority.

Background and statutory framework

Port Allen Police Chief Harry Brown asked who bore responsibility for officer witness fees in city court. The AG quoted LSA-R.S. 15:255 E (1), (2), and (5). The quoted law said a covered off-duty officer “shall be paid the sum of fifty dollars for each day per case”; costs were placed in a governing-authority fund, from which that authority paid the fee. The cooperative-agreement provision allowed transmission to the officer's employer.

Citations

• LSA-R.S. 15:255 E (1), (2), and (5) (fee amount, funding source, and agreement provision quoted in the opinion).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0035

Original opinion text

May 26, 2005
OPINION NO. 05-0035

46-A Fees and costs
Honorable Harry Brown
LSA-R.S. 15:255 E. (1), (2), and (5)
Chief of Police
We conclude that off-duty law enforcement officers who Port Allen Police Department appear in as witnesses in city court, shall be paid fees by the
750 North Jefferson Ave.
governing authority, not by their employer, from a special
P.O. Box 468
fund which contains collected court costs, unless the
governing authority enters into an agreement with the
Port Allen, LA 70767
employer of the law enforcement officers that transfers the
payment of fees to the employer, as per direct language of
Dear Mr. Brown,
LSA-R.S. 15:255 E. (1), (2), and (5).

Our office has received receipt of your opinion request in which you asked who bears the responsibility of paying the fees of law enforcement officers who serve as witnesses in city court.

It is the opinion of this office that the fees in question shall be paid by the governing authority, not the officers’ employer, from a special fund which contains collected court costs, unless the governing authority enters into an agreement with the employer of the law enforcement officers that transfers the payment of fees to the employer, as per direct language of LSA-R.S.15:255 as amended in 2004.

The direct language of the above mentioned statute answers your inquiry. It states:

Each law enforcement officer who, because of his official connections with any criminal case being tried in the city court, as the arresting officer or in some other official capacity, is required to be present as a witness in the case during any time when he is otherwise not required to report to work or perform duties of his office shall be paid the sum of fifty dollars for each day per case…LSA-R.S. 15:255 E (1). (Emphasis added)

Witness fees provided by this Subsection shall be paid from costs of court which shall be assessed and collected in individual cases in which there is a plea of guilty or a conviction, in accordance with a schedule of costs adopted by the judge or judges of the city court.
The costs so collected shall be placed in a special fund maintained

Page 2

Honorable Harry Brown
OPINION NO. 05-0035
Page 2
and administered by the governing authority and from which the governing authority shall pay the witness fees provided herein.
LSA-R.S. 15:255 E (2). (Emphasis added)

Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the governing authority of any municipality from entering into a cooperative endeavor agreement with the employer of any law enforcement officer to provide that the fees under this Section shall be transmitted to the law enforcement officer’s employer….LSA-R.S. 15:255 E (5). (Emphasis added)

Therefore, according to the direct language of the statute, when law enforcement officers are required to serve as witnesses in city court as a witness in a case during any time when he or she is otherwise not required to report to work or perform duties of his/her office, they shall be paid their fees by the governing authority subject to the fee structure therein, out of a special fund of collected court costs, not the officers’ employer, unless the governing authority and the officers’ employer agree otherwise.

Very Truly Yours,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:____
DON WINGERTER
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

DW/js/jy

Page 3

OPINION NO. 05-0035

46-A Fees and costs

LSA-R.S. 15:255 E. (1), (2), and (5)

We conclude that off-duty law enforcement officers who appear in as witnesses in city court, shall be paid fees by the governing authority, not by their employer, from a special fund which contains collected court costs, unless the governing authority enters into an agreement with the employer of the law enforcement officers that transfers the payment of fees to the employer, as per direct language of LSA-R.S. 15:255 E. (1), (2), and (5).

Honorable Harry Brown
Chief of Police Port Allen Police Department
750 North Jefferson Ave.
P.O. Box 468
Port Allen, LA 70767

Date Received: February 3, 2005
Date Released: May 26, 2005

DON WINGERTER
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

.