Did Youngsville's local census qualify it for reclassification from a Louisiana town to a city?

Plain-English summary

Youngsville asked the governor to change its classification from town to city. In 2005, the Attorney General reviewed the town's local census, the census taker's qualifications and method, and the board's authorizing and request resolutions. The AG concluded the documents complied with La. R.S. 33:342 and showed 5,108 residents, above La. R.S. 33:341's 5,000-person threshold for a city. It found no reason the governor should not issue a reclassification proclamation.

The opinion did not itself issue that proclamation. The statute quoted by the AG gave the governor responsibility to investigate the facts and allowed the governor to check the census independently. If the governor found the town wrongly classified, the statute called for a proclamation, followed by a local ordinance changing the municipality's name to reflect its new class and filing both documents with the secretary of state.

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

What population did the AG find for Youngsville?

The submitted census showed 5,108 residents. The AG said that exceeded the 5,000-person threshold for city classification under the statute it applied.

Did the AG opinion itself make Youngsville a city?

No. The AG found the submitted documents complied with the statute and saw no reason why the governor should not issue a proclamation. The quoted statute placed the classification proclamation with the governor.

Could the governor question the town's census?

Yes. La. R.S. 33:342, as quoted in the opinion, said the governor was not bound by the submitted census and could ascertain the facts by another method if he believed it inaccurate.

What happened after a proclamation under the quoted statute?

The town's board would adopt an ordinance changing the municipality's name to reflect its class, then send the proclamation and ordinance to the secretary of state for recording.

Background and statutory framework

The Town of Youngsville submitted an affidavit on population, the census taker's qualifications and methodology, a resolution authorizing the census, and a resolution requesting reclassification. La. R.S. 33:341 defined a city by population; La. R.S. 33:342 set out the census, governor-review, proclamation, and local-ordinance steps. The AG found the submitted materials sufficient for the requested reclassification.

Citations

• La. R.S. 33:341 (city population threshold quoted in the opinion).
• La. R.S. 33:342 (reclassification procedure quoted by the AG).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0335

Original opinion text

December 9, 2005
OPINION NO. 05-0335

71- MUNICIPALITIES
J. Terry Ryder, Esq.
Executive Counsel La. R.S. 33:341 La. R.S. 33:342
Office of the Governor
Town of Youngsville meets the requirements of law, La.
Post Office Box 94004
R.S. 33:342, for reclassification from a town to a city.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-9004

Dear Mr. Ryder:

We are in receipt of your request for an Attorney General's Opinion regarding the reclassification of the Town of Youngsville to the City of Youngsville. You have submitted for our review the following documents: (1) Affidavit of Michael C. Hefner showing that the population of the Town of Youngsville now exceeds 5,000 people; (2) Statement of Mr. Hefner’s qualifications to take a census; (3) Resolution 2005-001 of the Mayor and Board of Alderman of the Town of Youngsville authorizing Mr. Hefner to take a census; (4) the methodology used in taking the referenced census and (5) Resolution 2005-005 of the Mayor and Board of Alderman of the Town of Youngsville requesting the governor to issue a proclamation changing the classification of the municipality. You have asked us to advise you whether the documents submitted on behalf of the Town of Youngsville fulfill all statutory requirements and demonstrate that reclassification is warranted.

La. R.S. 33:342 provides:

A. Whenever a census taken by resolution of the board of aldermen of any municipality or a certified report from the federal Census Bureau shows that its population has increased or decreased so as to take the municipality out of its present municipal class, the board of aldermen shall adopt a resolution requesting the governor to change the classification of the municipality. The results of any census taken by resolution of the board of aldermen shall have been certified by the person authorized to take the census.

B. The mayor of the municipality shall transmit the resolution to the governor.
The governor shall investigate the facts; in such investigation, the governor shall not be bound by the census submitted and, if he believes the findings are inaccurate, he may ascertain the facts in any manner he

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J. Terry Ryder, Esq.
OPINION No. 05-0335
Page 2

deems appropriate. If the governor finds that the municipality is wrongly classified, he shall issue a proclamation correctly classifying the municipality, and such proclamation shall be transmitted to the mayor of the municipality.

C. Upon receipt of the proclamation, the board of aldermen of the municipality shall adopt an ordinance changing the name of the municipality to reflect its new classification. A copy of the proclamation and the ordinance shall be transmitted to the secretary of state for recordation.

D. The courts shall take judicial notice of the class to which each municipality belongs.

After reviewing the documents, we are of the opinion that these documents are in compliance with the statutory requirements of La. R.S. 33:342. Indeed, the census data show that the Town of Youngsville has a total population of 5,108. La. R.S. 33:341 provides that those municipal corporations "[h]aving five thousand inhabitants or more are cities." We find no reason why the governor should not issue a proclamation reclassifying the Town of Youngsville to a city.

We hope that this sufficiently answers your inquiry, but if we can be of further assistance, please do hesitate to contact us.

Very truly yours,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:____
Christopher D. Matchett
Assistant Attorney General

CCF,JR.:CDM:lrs

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OPINION NO. 05-0335

71- MUNICIPALITIES

La. R.S. 33:341
La. R.S. 33:342

Town of Youngsville meets the requirements of law, La. R.S. 33:342, for reclassification from a town to a city.

J. Terry Ryder, Esq.
Executive Counsel
Office of the Governor
Post Office Box 94004
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-9004

DATE RECEIVED:
CHRISTOPHER D. MATCHETT
DATE RELEASED December 9, 2005
Assistant Attorney General