Did new South Bossier firefighters have to join Louisiana’s Firefighters’ Retirement System?

Plain-English summary

The South Bossier Fire Department asked whether its new employees had to participate in Louisiana’s Firefighters’ Retirement System. In 2006, the Attorney General read R.S. 11:2253 to make membership a condition of employment for a covered employee hired on or after January 1, 1980. The exception was a municipality, parish, or fire district that had enacted an exemption ordinance by that date.

The AG said a 401K matching-fund option could be offered if such an ordinance had been adopted. It also said the Parochial Employees’ Retirement System was unavailable to firefighters eligible for the firefighters’ system, under the exclusion in R.S. 11:1902(12)(a). The opinion stated the rule conditionally; it did not establish whether South Bossier had actually enacted a timely ordinance.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2006. 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 a new firefighter have to join the firefighters’ retirement system?

The AG said yes for an employee covered by the statute and hired from January 1, 1980, unless the employing municipality, parish, or fire district had enacted an exemption ordinance by that date.

Did the AG say South Bossier had passed an exemption ordinance?

No. It explained the consequence if one had been adopted on time but did not make that factual finding.

Could an eligible firefighter enroll in the parish employees’ system instead?

No. The AG said R.S. 11:1902(12)(a) excluded people eligible for another state public retirement system, including these firefighters.

What alternative did the opinion identify if a timely ordinance existed?

It said a 401K matching-fund retirement option could be offered if the ordinance exempted the employees from mandatory firefighters’ system membership.

Background and statutory framework

R.S. 11:2253 supplied the mandatory-membership rule and the pre-1980 ordinance exception. The AG then read R.S. 11:1902(12)(a) to exclude firefighters eligible for the Firefighters’ Retirement System from the Parochial Employees’ Retirement System. Its answer turned on statutory coverage and the existence of a timely ordinance.

Citations

• R.S. 11:2253 (mandatory membership and exemption ordinance).
• R.S. 11:1902(12)(a) (parish-system eligibility exclusion).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0361

Original opinion text

May 16, 2006
OPINION 05-0361

92-A-2(m) Retirement Firefighters
R.S. 11:2253; R.S. 11:1902(12)(a)
Ms. Dawn M. Young
Membership in the Firefighter’s Retirement System is mandatory
South Bossier Fire Department for a person employed on or after January 1, 1980, where an ordinance exempting these employees has not been enacted on
3551 Hwy 527
or before that date. Firefighters are not eligible to become
Elm Grove, LA 71051
members of the Parochial Employees’ Retirement System.

Dear Ms. Young:

You have asked this office to advise you whether new employees of the South Bossier Fire Department must participate in the Firefighter’s Retirement System.
The Firefighter’s Retirement System is governed by R.S. 11:2251, et seq., and is established for “firemen employed by any municipality, parish, or fire protection district of the state of Louisiana.”

R.S. 11:2253 governs our response and provides, in pertinent part:

Chapter 9. Firefighters’ Retirement System
§2253. Membership

A. The membership of the retirement system shall be composed as follows:

(1)(a)(i) Except as provide in R.S. 11:2252(12), and except as provided further in this Paragraph, any person who becomes an employee as defined in R.S. 11:2252 on and after January 1, 1980, shall become a member as a condition of his employment.

Membership in the Firefighters’ Retirement System is a mandatory condition of employment for any person who becomes an employee, as defined within the statute, on or after January 1, 1980.

The statute does make an exception to this general rule in R.S. 11:2253(1)(b)(i), providing:

(b)(i) Except as otherwise provided in Item (ii) of this Subparagraph, the mandatory membership provisions of this Paragraph shall be inapplicable

Page 2

Ms. Dawn Young
OPINION 05-0361
Page 2
with respect to any municipality, parish, or fire protection district which on or before January 1, 1980, enacts an ordinance exempting the municipality, parish, or fire protection district from the provisions of this Paragraph, which ordinance is hereby authorized.

If an ordinance was adopted on or before January 1, 1980 which exempted these employees from mandatory membership in the Firefighter’s Retirement System, then a 401K matching fund retirement option could be offered. Further, the Parochial Employees’ Retirement System is not available as an option to these employees as they are excluded from membership in R.S. 11:1902(12)(a), stating:

(12)(a) “Employee” means any person who is employed as a permanent employee of a parish who works at least twenty-eight hours a week and whose compensation is paid wholly or partly by said parish, but excluding all persons employed by a parish or city school board, and all persons eligible for all other public retirement system of this state.

“All persons eligible for any other public retirement system” would also include firefighters, as they are eligible for membership in the Firefighters Retirement System, and thus excluded from membership in the Parochial Employees’ Retirement System.

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

Page 3

Ms. Dawn Young
OPINION 05-0361
Page 3

05-0361

92-A-2(m) Retirement Firefighters

R.S. 11:2253; R.S. 11:1902(12)(a)

Membership in the Firefighter’s Retirement System is mandatory for a person employed on or after January 1, 1980, where an ordinance exempting these employees has not been enacted on or before that date. Firefighters are not eligible to become members of the Parochial Employees’ Retirement System.

Ms. Dawn M. Young
South Bossier Fire Department
3551 Hwy 527
Elm Grove, LA 71051

Date Received:
Date Released: May 16, 2006

KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL