Can a Baton Rouge Metro Council member also serve on the parish election supervisors board?

Plain-English summary

An East Baton Rouge Republican parish party chair asked whether the same person could hold a Metro Council seat and the appointed seat on the parish board of election supervisors. The Attorney General said yes. The party chair's board appointment followed R.S. 18:423(C)(1), and a political party office was excluded from the dual-officeholding law's definition of an elective office. The Metro Council seat was the relevant elected office for the remaining analysis.

R.S. 42:63(D) barred pairing that council seat with a full-time appointive office, but the AG treated the election board seat as part time. The AG also checked the East Baton Rouge home rule charter, which restricts other offices of profit. The board's statutory compensation was a per diem for election work, so the AG concluded it was not another office of profit under that charter provision.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2006. Subsequent statutory amendments, charter changes, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Verify current law and the current charter before relying on it.

What this means for you

Metro Council members considering election board service

Check the time commitment and compensation of the proposed board seat, then review the current East Baton Rouge charter. This opinion permitted the specific part-time board position with the per diem described in R.S. 18:423(E); it did not authorize every second local office.

Parish party chairs and election administrators

The AG described the recognized party's parish executive committee chair as a required appointee to the board under R.S. 18:423(C)(1). If the chair also sits on the Metro Council, keep the appointment record and the board's compensation terms available for the dual-officeholding and charter review.

Common questions

Does being elected as a party chair count as an elective office for this law?

No. The opinion quotes the dual-officeholding definition, which expressly excludes political party offices. The elected Metro Council seat still mattered independently.

Why was the board seat allowed alongside the council seat?

The AG treated it as a part-time appointed position. R.S. 42:63(D) prohibited the combination with a full-time appointive office, but did not prohibit the part-time appointment considered here.

Did the home rule charter prohibit the extra compensation?

The AG read charter Section 2.03's ban on another office of profit and found that the election board's payment was more like a per diem. On those facts, the board seat was not the barred office of profit.

How much did the board position pay under the cited law?

The opinion quotes R.S. 18:423(E) as paying fifty dollars for each day actually spent preparing for and supervising an election, up to six days per election. Its separate witness-payment provision applied to board members who were not public officials.

Background and statutory framework

R.S. 18:423(C)(1) required the recognized party's parish executive committee chair to sit on the parish election supervisors board. The AG then applied R.S. 42:63(D)'s elected-office and appointed-office restriction and R.S. 42:66(D)'s direction to consider applicable home rule charter provisions. It read the East Baton Rouge charter together with the board compensation in R.S. 18:423(E) and concluded that this Metro Council member could hold both posts.

Citations

• R.S. 18:423(C)(1) (party chair's appointment to the board).
• R.S. 42:63(D) (elected and appointed office combination).
• R.S. 42:66(D) (home rule charter limits).
• R.S. 18:423(E) (board compensation).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/06-0195

Original opinion text

August 28, 2006
OPINION 06-0195

78 Dual Officeholding
Ms. Rosalie “Pat” Harris
R.S. 18:423(C)(1); R.S. 18:444; R.S. 42: 61, et seq., R.S.
EBR Republican Parish
42:63(D); R.S. 18:423(E)
Executive Committee
Metro council member may also hold part-time appointive
office as member of parish elections supervisory board.
P. O. Box 2684
Baton Rouge, LA 70821

Dear Ms. Harris:

You ask if the Chairman of the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Executive Committee may also hold the elective office of East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council Member and additionally serve as appointee to the East Baton Rouge Parish Board of Election Supervisors.

Pursuant to R.S. 18:423(C)(1), the chairman of the parish executive committee of each recognized political party must be appointed as member of the parish board of election supervisors.1

Although the position as member of a party parish executive committee is provided for as an elective office in the Louisiana Election Code, R.S. 18:444,2 for the purposes of the Louisiana Dual Officeholding Law, R.S. 42:61, et seq., Section 42:62(1) defines “elective office” and specifically excludes all political party offices from that definition.3 Thus, the question becomes whether an elected member of the Metro Council may also

1
R.S. 18:423(C)(1) states:
C..(1) Composition. In each parish, the board of election supervisors shall be composed of the registrar of voters, the clerk of court , the chairman of the parish 2 R.S. 18:444(A) & (B) state: A. Qualifications of members. A member of a parish executive committee of a recognized political party shall meet the qualifications established by the rules and regulations of the state central committee of that recognized political party. The qualifications for membership on parish executive committees of a recognized political party shall be uniform throughout the state. B. Election and term. (1) Members of a parish executive committee of a recognized political party shall be elected every four years at the same time as the presidential preference primary election. The term of office shall not extend beyond the time for which the member was elected. Notwithstanding this provision, members elected in 1991 shall serve until their successors are chosen. 3 R.S. 42:62(1) states: (1) “Elective office” means any position which is established or authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof, which is not a political party office and which is filled by vote of the citizens of this state or of a political subdivision thereof.

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Ms. Rosalie “Pat” Harris
OPINION 06-0195
Page 2

hold the part-time appointive office of member of the parish board of elections supervisors.

R.S. 42:63(D) prohibits only the holding of an elective office and a full-time appointive office, but does not prohibit one from holding elective office and a part-time appointive office.4 The application of the dual-officeholding laws alone does not prohibit the holding of the positions here under consideration.

However, note that R.S. 42:66(D) requires review of any home rule charter provisions which might be applicable, as the statute provides:

(D). Nothing in this Part shall be construed to prohibit a municipal and/or parochial officer or employee from holding another municipal and/or parochial office or employment as specifically authorized by a legislative or home rule charter, nor shall it be construed to authorize a municipal and/or parochial officer or employee to hold another municipal and/or parochial office or employment when prohibited by a home rule charter.

The City-Parish of East Baton Rouge is governed by a home rule charter, which states in Section 2.03:

SECTION 2.03
Qualifications

The members of the Metropolitan Council elected from single member districts with the terms of office to commence on January 1, 1985, shall be qualified voters of the Parish and of the district and shall be a resident of the district from which each is elected. No member of the Metropolitan Council or the Mayor-President shall, while he holds such office, hold any 4
R.S. 42:63(D) states:
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. In addition no sheriff, assessor, or clerk of court shall hold any office or employment under a parish governing authority or school board, nor shall any member of any parish governing authority or school board hold any office or employment with any sheriff, assessor, or clerk of court.

“Part-time” and “full-time” are defined in R.S. 42:62(4) and (5) as: (4) “Full-time” means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment and which is at least seven hours per day of work and at least thirty-five hours per week of work. (5) “Part-time” means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment which is less than the number of hours of work defined in this Section as full time.

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Ms. Rosalie “Pat” Harris
OPINION 06-0195
Page 3
other office of profit under the United States, the State of Louisiana or any political subdivision thereof, except that of notary public or an office of the National Guard or the military or Naval Reserve in the United States. No such member shall, during the term for which he was elected and two years thereafter, be appointed to any office of profit under the Parish of East Baton Rouge or the City of Baton Rouge, or any unit of local government therein. If any of them shall cease to possess the qualification above required, his office shall at once become vacant.
(Emphasis added).

Each member of the parish election supervisory board receives the compensation as set forth in R.S. 18:423(E):

(E). Compensation. Each member of the parish board of election supervisors shall receive fifty dollars for each day, not to exceed six days, actually spent in the performance of his duties in preparing for and supervising each election held in the parish. In addition, each member of the board who is not a public official shall receive fifty dollars for each day spent in court as a subpoenaed witness in litigation concerning the performance of his duties as a member of the parish board of election supervisors in connection with an election.

The compensation provided a parish election supervisory board member is more in the nature of a per diem and does not constitute holding another “office of profit” as contemplated by Section 2.03. Thus, we conclude that an elected member of the Metro Council is not prohibited from holding the part-time appointed office of member of the parish elections supervisory board.

Very truly yours,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: ________
KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

KLK:ams

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Ms. Rosalie “Pat” Harris
OPINION 06-0195
Page 4

Opinion 06-0195

78 Dual Officeholding

R.S. 18:423(C)(1); R.S. 18:444; R.S. 42: 61, et seq., R.S. 42:63(D); R.S. 18:423(E)

Metro council member may also hold part-time appointive office as member of parish elections supervisory board.

Ms. Rosalie “Pat” Harris
EBR Republican Parish
Executive Committee
P. O. Box 2684
Baton Rouge, LA 70821

Date Received:
Date Released: August 28, 2006

KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL