Could Mansura's elected police chief require the town to give his department a vacant municipal building?

Plain-English summary

Mansura's elected police chief wanted to move his department from a hurricane-damaged building into a vacant building owned by the town. The AG concluded that the mayor and town council could deny the request. The town owned the proposed building, and the opinion found no statute requiring the town to lend, lease, or sell it to the police department.

The AG separated that property decision from the chief's authority over police operations. Under La. R.S. 33:404, the elected chief supervised the department's daily work and assigned its personnel and equipment; the mayor could not take those powers away. The opinion urged the town officials and chief to work together on space for the department, but described that as a matter of good government relations, not a legal duty to provide this particular building.

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

Could the Mansura police chief choose a town-owned building for the department?

The AG said he could ask to use it, but the mayor and council could refuse because the building belonged to the town. His operational authority did not give him control over that property decision.

Did the town have to provide the vacant building after hurricane damage to the police station?

No. The opinion acknowledged the damage and said officials should work together to accommodate the department, but found no statutory mandate to lend, lease, or sell the vacant building to it.

Could the mayor direct the elected chief's police staff and equipment?

The AG said the elected chief retained inherent authority over daily police operations and assignments of personnel and equipment. It cited La. R.S. 33:404 and an earlier Louisiana appellate decision for the chief's operational powers. The opinion separately reasoned that the town's ownership of the building did not require it to turn the property over to the department.

Background and statutory framework

Mansura was a Lawrason Act town with an elected chief of police. The opinion quoted La. R.S. 33:404 on the mayor's supervision of municipal departments and its exception for a police department led by an elected chief. It also relied on prior AG opinions and Cogswell v. Town of Logansport, 321 So.2d 774, to explain the chief's operational powers. The requested move concerned a vacant town-owned building, so the AG treated ownership as decisive.

Citations

• La. R.S. 33:404 (mayoral supervision and the elected-chief exception).
• Cogswell v. Town of Logansport, 321 So.2d 774 (La. App 1975) (cited for the chief's inherent operational powers).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/06-0003

Original opinion text

December 15, 2006
Opinion Number 06-0003

71 Municipalities
77 Officers
Chief Phillip Lucas
Town of Mansura
La. R.S. 33:404
1832 Le’Glise Street
There is no statutory mandate that requires a
P. O. Box 157
municipality to provide a building owned by the
Mansura, LA 71350
municipality to the town’s police department.

Dear Chief Lucas:

This office is in receipt of your opinion inquiry regarding whether the Town Council or Mayor of Mansura can deny your request to relocate the Mansura Police Department to another building located in the Town of Mansura. It is noted that the Town of Mansura is a Lawrason Act town and you are the town’s elected Chief of Police. You have informed us that the current building in which the police department is operating is in need of repairs due to hurricane damage, and you would like to relocate the police department to a vacant building owned by the Town of Mansura. For the answer to your request, we turn to La. R.S. 33:404 and past Attorney General Opinions relating to similar issues concerning supervisory authority of a Mayor over an elected Chief of Police.

In La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 02-39, this office cited La. R.S. 33:404 which states, “(T)he Mayor in a Lawrason Act community shall supervise and direct the administration and operation of all municipal departments, offices, and agencies, other than a police department with an elected chief of police.” In concurrence with this statute and the case of Cogswell v. Town of Logansport, 321 So.2d 774 (La. App 1975), this office has repeatedly observed that the chief of police has inherent power or authority to supervise and direct the administration and day to day operations of the police department and assign personnel and equipment, and the mayor may not revoke the inherent powers of an elected chief of police. However, in La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 94-536, we stated, “(A) municipality should provide sufficient office space for the efficient operation of the police department, but find no statutory mandate that such space must be provided.”

Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that the Town Council and the Mayor of Mansura can deny your request to move into the vacant building. This opinion is

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Opinion No. 06-0003
Chief Phillip Lucas
Town of Mansura
Mansura Police Department
Page -2-

not reached because the Council and Mayor have authority to interfere with the inherent power of the elected Chief of Police to direct and supervise the police department, but reached because the Town of Mansura owns the building in question. It should further be noted that it is also our opinion that the Council and the Mayor should work together with the Chief of Police to accommodate the police department in providing another building for it to operate so as to promote good government relations between the municipal agencies, however we also have not found any statutory mandate that would require the Town of Mansura to lend, lease, or sell its vacant building to the Mansura Police Department.

We hope that this sufficiently answers your questions, 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

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Opinion No. 06-0003
Chief Phillip Lucas
Town of Mansura
Mansura Police Department
Page -3-

SYLLABUS
OPINION NUMBER 06-0003

71 Municipalities
77 Officers

La. R.S. 33:404

There is no statutory mandate that requires a municipality to provide a building owned by the municipality to the town’s police department.

Chief Phillip Lucas
Town of Mansura
1832 Le’Glise Street
P.O. Box 157
Mansura, LA 71350

DATE RECEIVED:

DATE RELEASED: December 15, 2006

Charles H. Braud, Jr.
Assistant Attorney General