Could Winnfield's elected marshal also serve part time as a district attorney's investigator?

Plain-English summary

The district attorney wanted to appoint Winnfield's elected city marshal as a part-time investigator. In 2005, the Attorney General said the combination was permitted under the dual-officeholding law it reviewed. R.S. 16:13 specifically authorized the investigator position, making it an appointive office under R.S. 42:62(2). The marshal's Winnfield post was an elective municipal office.

R.S. 42:63(D) barred a local elected official from simultaneously holding another elective office or a full-time appointive office in state or local government. The AG said it did not bar this part-time appointive office. It also treated district attorneys as political subdivisions separate from the municipality for this law's purposes. The opinion described part-time work as under seven hours per day and under thirty-five hours per week; that time classification was part of its answer.

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

Could Winnfield's elected marshal also be a DA investigator?

The AG said yes for a part-time appointment. It classified the investigator post as an appointive office and found no applicable dual-officeholding prohibition on the described combination.

Why did part-time status matter?

The cited law prohibited pairing the marshal's local elective office with a full-time appointive office. The opinion said the proposed investigator appointment was part time, so that prohibition did not apply.

Was the investigator role treated as ordinary employment?

No. Because R.S. 16:13 specifically authorized the position, the AG treated it as an appointive office under R.S. 42:62(2). That classification determined which part of the dual-officeholding restriction applied.

Did the city and district attorney count as the same political subdivision?

The AG treated the district attorney as a separate political subdivision under R.S. 42:62(9) for purposes of the dual-officeholding law.

Background and statutory framework

The DA asked about appointing the elected marshal of a Lawrason Act municipality to an investigator role. The AG relied on R.S. 16:13 for the DA's appointment authority and on R.S. 42:62(2) to classify the role. It read R.S. 42:63(D) against the proposed part-time schedule and R.S. 42:62(9)'s separate-subdivision classification. The opinion addressed the dual-officeholding combination as proposed, rather than every possible schedule or office arrangement.

Citations

• R.S. 16:13 (district attorney investigator appointment).
• R.S. 42:62(2) (appointive-office definition).
• R.S. 42:63(D) (dual-officeholding restriction).
• R.S. 42:62(9) (political subdivision definition).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0309

Original opinion text

November 7, 2005
OPINION 05-0309

78 DUAL OFFICEHOLDING
Honorable Martin S. Sanders, III LSA-Const. Art. V, § 26 (1974), R.S. 16:1; R.S.
16:13; R.S. 42:62(2); R.S. 33:381.1; R.S. 42:63(D);
District Attorney
R.S. 42:62(9)
Post Office Drawer 1374
An elected marshal of a Lawrason Act municipality
Winnfield, LA 71483
may serve in the appointed position of District
Attorneys’ Investigator on a part-time basis.

Dear Mr. Sanders:

You advise this office that the District Attorney’s Office would like to appoint the elected Marshal of the City of Winnfield as a part-time investigator. You ask if an individual may hold both positions simultaneously.

District Attorneys are authorized by the constitution and laws of this state to select assistants and other personnel. See LSA-Const. Art. V, § 26 (1974) and R.S. 16:1. Pursuant to R.S. 16:13, investigators may be appointed as follows:

A. Each district attorney of this state is hereby authorized to employ one special investigator in addition to any others previously authorized by law, to be know by the title of ‘District Attorneys’ Investigator’.
B. The special investigator shall receive an annual salary payable by the state, of six thousand dollars. In addition, the governing authorities of the parish or parishes comprising any judicial district may provide and pay an additional compensation to these investigators.
C. No district attorney shall employ a special investigator as authorized by this section until and unless the funds to pay the state’s portion of the salaries of such special investigators area appropriated or otherwise made available therefore.

Investigators of the district attorneys’ offices are peace officers, as follows:

The investigators of the district attorneys’ offices shall be peace officers with all privileges, immunities, and defenses accorded to peace officers, except that they shall have the same territorial jurisdiction as the district attorney for whom they work. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, investigators of a district attorney’s office shall not receive state supplemental pay. R.S. 16:13.1.

Because of R.S. 16:13, it is our opinion that the position of “District Attorneys’ Investigator” is an appointed position, as defined in R.S. 42:62(2):

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Honorable Martin S. Sanders, III
OPINION 05-0309
Page 2

(2) “Appointive office” means any office in any branch of government or other position on an agency, board, or commission or any executive office of any agency, board, commission, or department which is specifically established or specifically authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof and which is filled by appointment or election by an elected or appointed pubic official or by a governmental body composed of such officials of this state or of a political subdivision thereof. (Emphasis added).

The individual who is the subject of your inquiry serves as the elected marshal for the City of Winnfield. The city is governed by the Lawrason Act, R.S. 33:61, et seq., which provides pertinently at R.S. 33:381.1:

The marshal who is the chief of police in such municipalities shall be elected at large, provided that, notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, a majority of the qualified electors voting therein may, at a special election called by the board of aldermen for that purpose, authorize the mayor to thereafter appoint a marshal with the approval of the board of aldermen . . . .

R.S. 42:63(D) of Louisiana’s Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law, R.S. 42:61, et seq., does not prohibit a person from holding an elective office in a political subdivision of this state and at the same time a part-time appointive office in the government of a political subdivision, as follows:

D. No person holding 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 government of this state, or in the same political subdivision in which he holds an elective office. . . . R.S. 42:63(D)

Under the definition of “political subdivision” in R.S. 42:62(9), the district attorneys and all other elected parochial officials are separate political subdivisions for the purposes of Louisiana’s dual officeholding and dual employment laws. Furthermore, “part-time” is defined as less than seven hours per day of work and less than thirty-five hours per week of work.

Thus, while the law would prohibit one from holding local elective office and a full-time appointive office, the law does not prohibit one from holding local elective office and part-time appointive office. Because the position of investigator will be held on a part- time basis, the prohibitions of R.S. 42:63(D) quoted above are inapplicable.

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Honorable Martin S. Sanders, III
OPINION 05-0309
Page 3

It is the opinion of this office that the elected marshal of the City of Winnfield is not prohibited from serving as an investigator for the District Attorney’s office on a part-time basis.

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 Martin S. Sanders, III
OPINION 05-0309
Page 4

OPINION 05-0309

78 DUAL OFFICEHOLDING

LSA-Const. Art. V, § 26 (1974), R.S. 16:1; R.S. 16:13; R.S. 42:62(2); R.S. 33:381.1; R.S. 42:63(D); R.S. 42:62(9)

An elected marshal of a Lawrason Act municipality may serve in the appointed position of District Attorneys’ Investigator on a part-time basis.

Honorable Martin S. Sanders, III
District Attorney
Post Office Drawer 1374
Winnfield, LA 71483

Date Received:
Date Released: November 7, 2005

KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL