Could an elected parish school-board member also work part time as an assistant district attorney?

Plain-English summary

A district attorney asked whether an elected parish school-board member could also serve as a part-time assistant district attorney. The 2013 opinion concluded that Louisiana's dual-officeholding law did not prohibit those two described roles. The AG treated the school-board seat as a local elective office and the assistant district attorney role as a part-time appointive office.

The opinion's footnote added a specific boundary: although the district attorney served as legal counsel for school boards in the district, the assistant should not be directed to provide legal services to the school board while serving as an elected member. The AG left ethics-law questions to the State Board of Ethics.

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

School-board member

The AG's conclusion depended on the assistant district attorney appointment being part time. Its discussion distinguished that role from a full-time appointive office.

District attorney's office

The opinion said the district attorney could select assistants and discussed the office's school-board counsel role. Its footnote cautioned against assigning the board-member assistant to legal services for the same board.

Common questions

Did dual-officeholding law prohibit these two roles?

No. The AG concluded that the elected school-board role could coexist with the described part-time assistant district attorney appointment.

Could the assistant provide legal services to the board on which they sat?

The opinion said the district attorney should not direct that assistant to provide such services while the assistant was an elected board member.

Did the opinion decide the ethics question?

No. It expressly reserved potential Code of Governmental Ethics questions for the State Board of Ethics.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion classified the two positions under La. R.S. 42:62 and applied La. R.S. 42:63's distinction between full-time and part-time appointive offices. It cited La. R.S. 42:261 for the district attorney's school-board counsel role. The scanned heading's month and day are unreadable in the available extract, so the issue-date metadata is left blank; the opinion number identifies its 2013 series.

Citations

• La. R.S. 42:61: dual-officeholding law discussed by the AG.
• La. R.S. 42:62(1) and (2): elective and appointive office definitions.
• La. R.S. 42:261: district attorney's board-counsel role discussed in the footnote.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0032

Original opinion text

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

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
70804-9005
ATIORNEY GENERAL
1 0 2013
OPINION 13-0032

78 DUAL OFFICEHOLDING
Honorable H. Todd Nesom
District Attorney
La. Const. art. V, § 26; La. RS. 16:51; La. RS. 42:62; La. RS. 42:63

33 rd Judicial District
An elected school board member may simultaneously hold a part time
P.O. Box 839
appointive office with the district attorney's office.
Oberlin, Louisiana 70655

Dear Mr. Nesom:

You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General as to whether an elected school board member of the local parish school board may also simultaneously serve as a part time assistant district attorney.1 Your request has been assigned to me for research and reply.

The provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law, found at La. R.S.
42:61 et seq., govern questions concerning the holding of two or more public offices and/or employments. Identifying the correct nature of the positions held is essential for purposes of applying the dual officeholding provisions.

A school board member holds "elective office in a political subdivision of this state" as defined by La. R.S. 42:62(1) and (9) as follows:

(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.

(9) "Political subdivision" means a parish, municipality, and any other unit of local government, including a school board and a special district, authorized by law to perform governmental functions. In addition for the purposes of this Part, mayor's courts, justice of the peace courts, district attorneys, sheriffs, clerks of court, coroners, tax assessors, registrars of voters, and all other elected parochial officials shall be separate political subdivisions.

The definitions of full time and part time are found in La. RS. 42:62(4) and (5). "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. "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 as full time.

Page 2

OPINION 13-0032
Honorable H. Todd Nesom
Page NO.2

(Emphasis added).

For purposes of dual officeholding, an assistant district attorney holds "appointive office" as defined by La. R.S. 42:62(2).2 An individual holds an appointive office where the position is established by the constitution, statutes, home rule charter provisions or ordinances of a municipality or parish, and the position is appointed by another elected or appointed official, or a body of officials. 3 La. Const. Art. V, §26(A) states that "a district attorney may select assistants as authorized by law.... " La. R.S. 16:51 (A) states that "the district attorney of each judicial district and the parish of Orleans shall appoint a first assistant district attorney and such other assistant district attorneys for his respective judicial district or the parish of Orleans as may be necessary.... " Further, La. R.S. 16:51(8) provides that "assistant district attorneys serve at the pleasure of and may be removed at the discretion of the district attorney."

La. R.S. 42:63(0) prohibits one who holds "an elective office in a political subdivision of this state" from simultaneously holding at the same time "full-time appointive office in the government of this state." However, the statute does not prohibit a local elected official from simultaneously holding a part time appointive office. Thus, it is the opinion of this office that an individual serving on the parish school board may serve simultaneously as a part time assistant district attorney.4

Finally, note that our expressed opinion relative to state law is limited to an examination of the dual officeholding provisions. Any potential ethical questions concerning this matter arising under the Code of Governmental Ethics, La. R.S. 42:1111, et seq., must be addressed by advisory ruling of the Louisiana State Board of Ethics. The Board may be contacted at P.O. Box 4368, Baton Rouge, LA 70821 or by phone at 225-219-5600.

2
La. R.S. 42:62(2) states, "[a]ppointive office" means any office in any branch of government or other position
on an agency, board, or commission or any executive office of any agency, board or department which is specifically established or specifically authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof and which is filled by appointment or election by an elected or appointed public official or by a governmental body composed of such officials of this state or of a political subdivision thereof. 3 La. R.S. 42:62(2). 4 Note La. R.S. 42:261 makes the district attomey the legal counsel for the parish and city school boards within his district. The sole representative of the school board under La. R.S. 42:261 is the district attorney himself. Thus, La. R.S. 42:261 does not preclude an assistant district attorney from simultaneously serving as an elected school board member. See La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 05-0195. However, the assistant district attorney should not be directed by the district attorney to provide legal services to the school board while serving as an elected member.

Page 3

We hope that this opinion has adequately addressed the legal issues you have raised. If our office can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

With best regards,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: ~ Cfft~
Erin C. Day
Assistant Attorney General
JDC: ECD