Could Plaquemines Parish Council hold a special meeting away from its damaged parish seat after Katrina?

Plain-English summary

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed the parish buildings at Pointe-à-la-Hache, leaving Plaquemines Parish Council without a usable meeting place at the parish seat. The parish president asked whether council could meet, deliberate, and vote at a special meeting elsewhere in the parish. In 2005, the Attorney General said yes under the Plaquemines Parish Home Rule Charter.

The charter gave the parish president the duty to call special meetings and allowed them at any place within Plaquemines Parish under the council’s rules or a presidential call. The AG found no charter language confining these special meetings to the parish seat. Its answer concerned special meetings within the parish, not a change to the parish seat or meetings beyond parish boundaries.

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 the council vote at a special meeting outside Pointe-à-la-Hache?

Yes. The AG said a special meeting called by the parish president could be held at another place within Plaquemines Parish.

Who had the charter duty to call a special council meeting?

The opinion quoted the charter provision assigning that duty to the parish president.

What did the AG say about special meetings outside Plaquemines Parish?

The opinion did not decide that question. It addressed special meetings at another location within Plaquemines Parish.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion applied Sections 3.10 and 4.09(B) of the Plaquemines Parish Home Rule Charter to the loss of the parish-seat buildings after the hurricanes. It found those provisions sufficient to allow a special meeting elsewhere in the parish when called by the president.

Citations

• Plaquemines Parish Home Rule Charter § 3.10 (president’s special-meeting duty, as quoted).
• Plaquemines Parish Home Rule Charter § 4.09(B) (special-meeting location, as quoted).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0394

Original opinion text

December 12, 2005
OPINION NUMBER 05-0394

84 Parishes
Benny Rousselle
71-1-B Home Rule Charter
Plaquemines Parish President
The parish president has the duty to call special
106 Avenue “G”
meetings, and special meetings may be called at any
Belle Chasse, LA 70031
place in the Parish of Plaquemines.

Dear Mr. Rousselle:

This office is in receipt of your opinion request that stems from the unfortunate events surrounding Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which caused extensive damage and flooding to the Parish of Plaquemines. As a result of these natural disasters, the parish seat, Pointe-a-la-Hache, suffered severe destruction leaving all parish buildings in the parish seat destroyed.

In addition, Point-a-la-Hache still remains without power, water, sanitation, or other support systems, and as such, the parish council has no place to hold meetings within the parish seat. Because of this, you have asked if the parish council can meet, consider, deliberate, and vote on ordinances at special meetings held in other locations in Plaquemines Parish.

In connection with this inquiry, you have provided us a copy of the Plaquemines Parish Home Rule Charter. After extensive review, we find that the charter grants the parish president the duty to call special meetings, and these special meetings may be called at any place in the Parish of Plaquemines.

In reaching this opinion, we cite the following provisions of the Plaquemines Parish Home Rule Charter:

Sec. 3.10 Duties of the president.

The parish president shall have the following duties: …

I. Call special meetings of the parish council; …

Page 2

Opinion No. 05-0394
Mr. Benny Rousselle
Plaquemines Parish Government
Page: -2-

Sec. 4.09 Meetings of the parish council.

B. Special meetings may be held at any place within the Parish of Plaquemines as provided by the rules of procedure adopted by the parish council, or as called by the parish president and as provided by law.

Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that the Plaquemines Parish Council may meet at a location other than Point-a-la-Hache, the parish seat of Plaquemines Parish, if the Plaquemines Parish President calls a special meeting. Further, we have found no provisions within the Plaquemines Parish Home Rule Charter that limit the locations of special meetings under these circumstances.

We hope that this sufficiently answers your inquiries, but if we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours very truly,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: ____
CHARLES H. BRAUD, JR.
Assistant Attorney General
CCF, Jr./CHB, Jr./jd

Page 3

SYLLABUS
OPINION NUMBER 05-0394

84 Parishes
71-1-B Home Rule Charter

The parish president has the duty to call special meetings, and special meetings may be called at any place in the Parish of Plaquemines.

Benny Rousselle
Plaquemines Parish President
106 Avenue “G”
Belle Chasse, LA 70031

DATE RECEIVED:

DATE RELEASED: December 12, 2005

Charles H. Braud, Jr.
Assistant Attorney General