Did Greensburg's proposed charter amendments satisfy Louisiana's special-charter review law?

Plain-English summary

The governor's office submitted Greensburg's amended legislative charter for review under La. R.S. 33:1181. The 2013 opinion found the proposed amendments "consistent with the constitution and laws of the United States and Louisiana." The AG recorded that the town had published the amendments for three weeks and later adopted them by ordinance.

The quoted statute also provided a route for voter protest. The opinion's footnote said the office had received "no facts indicating that one-tenth of the electors protested the amendments." It did not report an election on the amendments.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. 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.

Historical summary

Greensburg officials and residents

For the submitted amendments, the AG gave the favorable consistency opinion called for by the special-charter statute. Its conclusion addressed the amendments it reviewed, not charter changes generally.

Governor's office

The statute quoted in the opinion made an AG consistency opinion part of the governor's review. It also conditioned approval of a protested amendment on voter ratification when the stated protest threshold was met. The AG reported no facts indicating that threshold had been reached here.

Common questions

Did the AG approve Greensburg's charter amendments?

The AG found them consistent with federal and Louisiana law under La. R.S. 33:1181. The statute quoted in the opinion assigned approval to the governor after a favorable AG opinion.

Had the town published the amendments?

The opinion said the proposed amendments were published in the St. Helena Echo for three weeks. A footnote said a certificate of advertisement accompanied the request.

Did voters protest the amendments?

The opinion did not establish that no one objected. Its footnote said the AG received no facts indicating that one-tenth of the electors protested them.

Background and statutory framework

Greensburg's legislative charter dated to Act 232 of 1860. The opinion quoted La. R.S. 33:1181, which set out publication, governor submission, AG review, and a voter-protest procedure for qualifying older municipalities. The board of aldermen adopted the amendments by ordinance on April 10, 2012; the AG then reviewed their consistency with federal and state law.

Citations

• La. R.S. 33:1181: special-charter amendment review procedure quoted in the opinion.
• Act 232 of 1860: Greensburg's original legislative charter, identified in the opinion.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0018

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

~tat.e of 'lfiouisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
AnORNEY GENERAL

March 19, 2013
OPINION 13-0018

71-1 MUNICIPALITIES- Special Charters

Thomas Enright, Jr.
La. R.S. 33 :1181
Executive Counsel
The amendments to the Town of Greensburg's Legislative
Office of the Governor
Charter are consistent with the constitution and laws of the
Post Office Box 94004
United States and Louisiana.

Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004

Dear Mr. Enright:

We received your request for review of the amendment and restatement of the original Legislative Charter of the Town of Greensburg in accordance with La. R.S. 33:1181.
The Town of Greensburg was incorporated by a Legislative Charter granted by Act 232 of 1860. In order to amend its Legislative Charter the Town of Greensburg must meet the requirements set forth in La. R.S. 33:1181 which provides in pertinent part:

When a municipality existing prior to July 29, 1898, and having a population of two hundred thousand or less, which has not come under the provisions of Part I of Chapter 2 of this Title, desires to amend its charter, the same may be done in this way: The municipal governing body may prepare, in writing, the desired amendments, have the same published for three weeks in a newspaper published in the municipality ... the proposed amendments shall then be submitted to the governor, who shall submit them to the Attorney General for his opinion. If the Attorney General is of the opinion that the proposed amendments are consistent with the constitution and laws of the United States and of this state, including Part I of Chapter 2 of this Title, the Governor shall approve the proposed amendments. If, within thirty days after publication, one-tenth of the electors of the municipality protest against any proposed amendment, the Governor shall not approve the amendment protested against until it is submitted to and ratified by a majority of the electors of the municipality at an election held within sixty days after the protest has been made.

The proposed amendments to the Town of Greensburg's Legislative Charter were published in the St. Helena Echo for a period of three weeks as required by La. R.S.

Page 2

OPINION 13-0018
Thomas Enright Jr.
Page 2

33:1181. 1 After the three week period of publication, the amendments to the legislative charter were adopted by ordinance of the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Greensburg on April 10, 2012. 2 Our office has reviewed the amended and restated Legislative Charter of the Town of Greensburg in accordance with La. R.S. 33:1181 and find the amendments are consistent with the constitution and laws of the United States and Louisiana.

With best regards,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

JDC: EGA

1 A certificate of advertisement from the St. Helena Echo, a newspaper of general circulation published in the parish of St. Helena accompanied the request. 2 We received no facts indicating that one-tenth of the electors protested the amendments.