Could a juvenile detention center assistant director also serve as a Louisiana parish police juror?

Plain-English summary

A legislator asked whether the full-time assistant director of Ware Youth Center could also be an elected Natchitoches Parish police juror. In 2005, the Attorney General concluded that the positions were incompatible when the police jury sent funds to the youth-center authority. The opinion said the individual could run for the elected office, but would have to resign from the assistant-director job if elected.

The AG distinguished two dual-officeholding rules. The center authority and police jury were separate political subdivisions, so the ban on employment and elective office in the same subdivision did not apply. A separate rule barred holding two posts when funds received by one were turned over to the other. Participating parishes funded the center with a per-juvenile payment, and the AG applied that funding rule to Natchitoches Parish's transfer to the authority.

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 being in two separate political subdivisions allow the person to hold both roles?

It avoided the particular same-subdivision prohibition in R.S. 42:63(D), but the AG found another incompatibility in R.S. 42:64(A)(6) when parish funds flowed to the youth-center authority.

What funding connection mattered to the AG?

The opinion said participating parishes paid the authority a daily per diem for juveniles. If the Natchitoches police jury transferred funds to the authority, a juror could not simultaneously hold the authority's assistant-director employment.

Could the assistant director run for police juror?

Yes. The AG said the employee could run, but if elected would have to resign from the youth-center employment.

Background and statutory framework

R.S. 15:1097 created the Ware Youth Center Authority as a separate political subdivision. The AG first considered R.S. 42:63(D), then applied R.S. 42:64(A)(6)'s restriction when funds handled by one role flowed to the other. The request involved the assistant director's actual employment and the parish's funding arrangement; the opinion did not decide every possible combination of center and parish positions.

Citations

• R.S. 15:1097 (Ware Youth Center Authority).
• R.S. 42:63(D) (same-subdivision dual-officeholding rule).
• R.S. 42:64(A)(6) (incompatibility tied to transferred funds).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0129

Original opinion text

March 24, 2005
OPINION 05-0129

78-Officers – Dual Officeholding
Honorable T. Taylor Townsend
R.S. 15:1097; R.S. 42:64(A)(6)
State Representative
Assistant director of Ware Youth Center may not hold position
of police juror as same constitutes incompatible offices.
Post Office Box 756
Natchitoches, LA 71458-0756

Dear Representative Townsend:

You ask this office to advise whether an individual may simultaneously hold full-time employment as the assistant director of the Ware Youth Center while holding the elected office of Natchitoches Parish police juror. We respond in the negative.

The Ware Youth Center houses juveniles from Natchitoches, Sabine, Red River, Webster and DeSoto parishes. See R.S. 15:10971. The Ware Youth Center Authority is a separate political subdivision of the state. The positions of assistant director and police juror fall within separate political subdivisions of the state. Thus, there is no violation of R.S. 42:63(D), providing that no person shall hold “employment…..in the same political subdivision in which he holds an elective office.”

However, of concern is R.S. 42:64(A)(6), which states:

A. In addition to the prohibitions otherwise provided in this Part, no other offices or employments shall be held by the same person in combination if any of the following conditions are found to pertain . . . (6) Funds received by one office or employment are deposited with or turned over to the other office or position.

You advise that the participating parishes (including Natchitoches) transfer monies to the Authority to fund a daily per diem per juvenile.

It is the opinion of this office that if the police jury of Natchitoches Parish transfers funds to the Authority, then simultaneously holding employment with the Authority as an

1
§1097. Ware Youth Center Authority; creation; jurisdiction A. The Ware Youth Center Authority is hereby established as a political subdivision of the state, with a territorial jurisdiction throughout the parishes of Claiborne, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster. If the governing authority of Claiborne Parish or the governing authority of Webster Parish elects to withdraw its respective parish from the district, the territorial jurisdiction of the district shall not include such parish or parishes.

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Honorable T. Taylor Townsend
OPINION 05-0129
Page 2

Assistant Director while serving as police juror would constitute incompatible offices. The reasoning is that the police jury is allocating or transferring funds to an entity run by a member of the police jury. See Attorney General Opinion 92-185, copy attached. The assistant director may run for the office of police juror, but if elected, he must resign from his employment.

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,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: _______ KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

KLK:ams

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Honorable T. Taylor Townsend
OPINION 05-0129
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OPINION 05-0129

78-Officers – Dual Officeholding

R.S. 15:1097; R.S. 42:64(A)(6)

Assistant director of Ware Youth Center may not hold position of police juror as same constitutes incompatible offices.

Honorable T. Taylor Townsend
State Representative
Post Office Box 756
Natchitoches, LA 71458-0756

Date received:
Date released: March 24, 2005

KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL