What happened to New Iberia's fire and police civil-service board after its police department closed?

Plain-English summary

New Iberia had ceased operating a regularly paid police department, leaving no police employees to elect a representative to the municipal fire and police civil-service board. The 2013 opinion said a special statute kept the civil-service system in force for the remaining fire department. The board remained a five-member body: its police employee seat stayed vacant, while both college-list appointments remained.

The quorum rule did not shrink with the vacancy. The AG quoted the statute requiring four members for a quorum and three concurring votes among them to decide board matters. The opinion expressly did not decide whether abolishing New Iberia's final classified police position had been lawful.

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

Board members and appointing officials

The AG said New Iberia's special continuation law did not rewrite the board appointment statute. With no police employees, the police-nominated position could not be filled; the other appointments remained as written.

Fire department employees

The opinion held that the remaining department's civil-service system continued in force despite the police department's closure. The board's four-person quorum requirement still applied.

Common questions

Did the board become a three-member board?

No. The AG said the board retained five seats, including two college-list seats and a police employee seat that remained vacant.

Did a vacancy lower the number needed for a quorum?

No. The opinion quoted the four-member quorum and three-vote decision rule and said it was unchanged.

Did the AG approve the police-position abolition?

No. A footnote said the request did not provide enough facts or ask the question needed to decide whether that abolition complied with Louisiana law.

Background and statutory framework

La. R.S. 33:2471 ordinarily applied to municipalities operating regularly paid fire and police departments. The opinion read La. R.S. 33:2495.2 as a New Iberia exception continuing civil service for the remaining department. It then applied La. R.S. 33:2476's five-seat appointment and quorum provisions without reducing the college-list appointments or the quorum.

Citations

• La. R.S. 33:2471: ordinary coverage of municipal fire and police civil service.
• La. R.S. 33:2495.2: continuation rule for New Iberia.
• La. R.S. 33:2476: board appointments and quorum.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0036

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
ATTORNEY GENERAL

June 27, 2013
OPINION 13-0036

71-1-1 MUNICIPAL FIRE AND POLICE CIVIL SERVICE

La. RS. 33:2471
La. R.S. 332495.2
La. RS. 33:2476
Robert S. Lawrence
The New Iberia Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board
Interim State Examiner
will remain a five member board despite the abolishment of
8550 United Plaza Blvd., Suite 901
the municipal police department. The governing body will not
be able to make the appointment from the police department
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
as set forth in La. RS. 33:2476 (3); therefore, the position
that can only be filled from the ranks of the policedepartment will be vacant. Although the board will contain a vacancy, the
Dear Mr. Lawrence: definition ofa quorum doesnotchange.

I received your request for an opinion with regard to La. R.S. 33:2495.2 and its application to the New Iberia Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board. Your opinion request relays that the sole remaining employee of the City of New Iberia Police Department is now no longer employed by the Department. 'Since the New Iberia Police Department no longer has any employees, effective, December 6,2012, the New Iberia Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board abolished the only remaining class in the classified police civil service.'

In light of the fact that New Iberia no longer has a regularly paid police department, you ask the following questions:

1) Are the two appointments made by the executive head of a four-year institution, contained in La. R.S. 33:2476 (C)(2)(a) ("college list appointments") reduced to one, thus rendering the board a three member board?

2) If the college list appointments must be reduced, should the current college list appointees remain on the board through the end of their term? If not, who determines which of the two members must step down?

3) If all members must remain on the board through July 26, 2013, what will constitute a quorum of the current board in light of the abolishment of the police department?

1 The opinion request submitted to our office neither asks norcontains facts sufficient for us to determine whether the abolishment of this class was in accordance with Louisiana Law. See La.Const. art. XIV, §15.1: La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 01-27: and Odom v. CilyofMinden, 300 So.2d 462 (La.1974).

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OPINION 13-0036
Robert S. Lawrence
Page 2

Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2471, et seq. govern Fire and Police Civil Service Law for Municipalities with populations between 13,000 and 250,000. 2 La. R.S. 33:2471 provides:

This Part applies to any municipality which operates a regularly paid fire and police department and which has a population of not less than thirteen thousand nor more than two hundred fifty thousand according to the latest regular federal census for which the official figures have been made public.

[Emphasis added.]

Generally, the provisions of La. R.S. 33:2471 are not applicable when a municipality does not have both a regularly paid fire and police department.' However, La. R.S. 33:2495.2, effective January 1, 2008, provides:

If the city of New Iberia which has a municipal fire and police civil service system in existence on January 1, 2008, ceases to operate either its fire department or its police department, the civil service system shall continue in full force and effect for the remaining department- as provided by law.

The use of the word continuation and the statute's location in Part " of Chapter 5 indicates that the phrase civil service system refers to the municipal fire and police civil service system in place at the time La. R.S. 33:2495.2 became effective." La. R.S. 33:2495.2 essentially created a special exception to the rule that the provisions of La. R.S. 33:2471, et seq. are only applicable to a "municipality which operates a regularly paid fire and police department." Unfortunately, La. R.S. 33:2495.2 failed to provide for how the appointments to the New Iberia Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board would be made if one of the departments ceases to operate.

La. R.S. 33:2476 governs the appointment process of municipal fire and police civil service boards. La. R.S. 33:2476(C) states:

The members of the board shall be appointed by the governing body as follows:

(1) One shall be appointed by the governing body upon its own nomination.

2 The most recent United States Census reported the population of the City of New Iberia to be 30,617. U.S. Census Bureau. New Iberia (city), Louisiana, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2254035.html(last visited April 19, 2013). 3 Heintz v. City of Gretna. 96·555 (la.App. 5 Cir. 11/26/96),683 So.2d 926, 928; lao R.S. 33:2471. 4 lao R.S. 33:2475. 5 lao R.S. 33:2471.

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OPINION 13-0036
Robert S. Lawrence
Page 3

(2) Two members shall be appointed from a list of four nominees that shall be furnished ... by the executive head of a legally chartered and established four-year institution of higher education....
(3) Two members shall be appointed who shall first be nominated and elected by and from the regularly employees of the fire and police departments as follows:

One member shall be elected and appointed from the fire department and one member shall be elected and appointed from the police department... .

It should be noted at the outset that the provisions of La. R.S. 33:2471, et seq. were never meant to apply to a municipality which only has a municipal fire department, and the statutes were not drafted to deal with such a situation. This issue was addressed in Heintz v. City of Gretna, wherein the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal held that operation of both a police and fire department is necessary before La. R.S. 33:2471, et seq. applies. La. R.S. 33:2476 (C)(3) requires that one member of the board be appointed who is nominated and elected by the regular employees of the police department. La. R.S. 33:2476 (E) provides that when there is a vacancy, "the governing body of the municipality shall appoint a successor in the same manner as the outgoing member was appointed" within ninety days of the vacancy. Because there is no municipal police department, the governing body will not be able to make: this appointment and the position will remain vacant. However, the inability to fill the position does not convert the board to a three member board. As shown above, La. R.S. 33:2476 (A) requires that the board be composed of five members. As a result, in the present situation, the position reserved for a member elected from the municipal police department will simply be vacant.

Your opinion request indicates that you believe the two college list appointments are meant to correspond with the number of departments, and you ask whether the number of college list appointments should be reduced to one. As noted above, La. R.S. 33:2476 (A) was never meant to apply to a situation where the municipality does not operate both a regularly paid police and fire department" Because the language of the La. R.S. 33:2476 (C)(2) does not specifically require that one of the college list appointments be from the municipal police department, the number of college list members cannot be reduced. The governing body should continue to make the appointments in accordance with La. R.S. 33:2476 (C)(2).

Although the board will contain a vacant position, the quorum requirement will not change. La. R.S. 33:2476 (M) specifically sets forth the quorum requirement for the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board and states: "[flour members of the board shall constitute a quorum and the concurring votes of any three members comprising

6 Heintz, 683 So.2d at 928.
7 Jd.

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OPINION 13-0036
Robert S. Lawrence
Page 4

the quorum of the board shall be sufficient for the decision of all matters to be decided or transacted by it."

In conclusion, the New Iberia Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board will remain a five member board, but the governing body will not be able to make the appointment from the police department as set forth in La. R.S. 33:2476 (3); therefore, that position will be vacant.

The special legislation enacted for the City of New Iberia allows its Fire and Police Civil Service Board to remain in existence, despite the elimination of the city police department. The legislation however, does not address how the appointment process contained in La. R.S. 33:2476 would function in the event that the city's fire or police department were to cease operation. In the absence of legislation which would specifically set forth a different appointment process for the New Iberia Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board, in the event of the elimination of one of the departments from which members are to be appointed, the position on the Board that must be filled from the roster of police employees must remain in existence, but vacant, even though the police department has been abolished. Absent remedial legislation, the New Iberia Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board must continue to abide by La. R.S. 33:2476.

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

With best regards,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATIORNEY GENERAL

OH'"""WS nt Attorney General
JDC: EGA