Who appointed Coushatta's police chief, clerk, and town attorney when its special charter was silent?

Plain-English summary

Coushatta's mayor asked whether the town's practice of appointing its police chief, clerk, and attorney with council approval was lawful under its special legislative charter. The 2013 opinion found the charter silent on those particular appointments. Under La. R.S. 33:481, the AG applied the Lawrason Act as the gap-filling rule: the mayor made the appointments, subject to council approval, and the mayor's recommendation prevailed on a tie.

The answer assumed the police chief was not elected. The AG based that assumption on council minutes showing the mayor recommended and the council approved recent chiefs. It did not decide the appointment of an elected chief.

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

Mayor and council

The AG said the special charter's silence allowed La. R.S. 33:404(A)(3) to govern these appointments. The council retained approval authority, but a tied vote did not defeat the mayor's recommendation.

Police chief, clerk, and attorney candidates

The opinion addressed the town positions named in the request. It treated the chief as a nonelected appointee based on past practice, a factual assumption the AG called out.

Common questions

Did Coushatta's special charter itself specify who appointed these officials?

No. The AG said it contained no specific appointment rule for the police chief, clerk, or attorney.

What law filled the charter's silence?

The opinion applied La. R.S. 33:481, which directed a special-charter town to the Lawrason Act for a silent matter while preserving the charter when the two conflicted.

What happened if council approval was tied?

The AG said the mayor's recommendation prevailed under the appointment rule it applied.

Did the opinion decide the procedure for an elected police chief?

No. It expressly assumed Coushatta's chief was nonelected based on the council minutes supplied with the request.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion quoted the town charter's older provisions on mayoral powers, then identified the absence of a rule for the three requested appointments. It read La. R.S. 33:481 as making the Lawrason Act applicable to that gap and La. R.S. 33:404(A)(3) as assigning appointments to the mayor with council approval.

Citations

• La. R.S. 33:481: Lawrason Act gap-filling rule for silent special charters.
• La. R.S. 33:404(A)(3): mayoral appointment and council approval rule applied by the AG.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0055

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
70804-9005
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATIORNEY GENERAL

JUN 1 8 2013
OPINION 13-0055

71-1-MUNICIPALITIES-Special Charters

R.S. 3Z:301; R.S. 33:404; R.S. 33:481

The Town of Coushatta's special legislative charter is silent as to the appointment process of the Town's Police Chief, Clerk, and Attorney.
Honorable Johnny Cox
Therefore, La. R.S. 33:404(A)(3) controls this appointment process
whereby the Mayor for the Town of Coushatta shall appoint the Town's
Mayor, Town of Coushatta
Chief of Police, Clerk, and Attorney, subject to the Council's approval. In
1425 E. Carroll Street
the event of a tie, the Mayor's recommendation shall prevail.

Coushatta, Louisiana 71079

Dear Mayor Cox:

You submitted an opinion request regarding the appointment authority of the Mayor and the Council for the Town of Coushatta (''Town''). According to your request, it has been the accepted practice in the Town for the Mayor to appoint the Town's Chief of Police, Clerk and Attorney, subject to the Council's approval. This practice is reflected in several Town Council Meeting minutes you supplied to our Office. 1 You would like confirmation that this practice is permissible under the Town's special legislative charter. Thus, your inquiry is whether it is lawful under the Town's special legislative charter for the Mayor to appoint the Town's Chief of Police, Clerk, and Attorney, subject to the Council's approval?

The Town's special legislative charter sets forth the duties of the Mayor and several members of the council (i.e., secretary, treasurer, marshal). For instance, Section 7 of the Town's Charter sets forth powers for the Mayor and Council, including the ability to organize the police in such a manner that is "not inconsistent with the laws of the state and of the United States."z

Town Council Meeting Minutes from January 12, 2010, January 11,2011, and January 10,2012 supplied to this Office with your request show that your predecessor, Mayor Byrd, made recommendations to appoint certain individuals to the position of the Town's Chief of Police, Clerk, and Attorney. The recommendations appear to have been SUbject to the Council's approval.
2 Town of Coushatta Special Legislative Charter, Sec. 7 "Mayor and councilmen-Additional nd powers," p. C-3. (Acts 1872, 2 Session, Number 24)

Page 2

Honorable Johnny Cox
Opinion 13-0055
Page 2

Section 9 of the Town's Charter delineates the Mayor's additional powers and duties as follows:

The mayor of the town of Coushatta shall be ex officio justice of the peace within the limits of the town, and as such shall have power to suppress all riots, unlawful assemblies, affrays and tumults, all breaches of the peace committed within the limits of the town; to that end he shall appoint, from time to time, by and with the advice and consent of the council, such a number of policemen as he may think proper, and the policemen so appointed shall be subject to his control in the discharge of their duties; he shall have power to hear charges against offenders, to issue warrants and summonses, to examine the informant, accused and witnesses, in the same manner as a committing magistrate may do; to grant bail for appearance; to commit for trail [sic]; to bind over to keep the peace, and generally to do all acts for the preservation of the peace in the town which a committing magistrate can or may do; he shall try and punish all offenses against the town of Coushatta, according to the laws and ordinances of the town; and for that purpose he shall hold his court at least once in each week, or more often if necessary; and for all such services he shall be entitled to charge and receive the same fees as are allowed by law to justices of the peace. The mayor shall preside over all meetings of the council but shall have a casting vote only.

Town of Coushatta Special Legislative Charter, Sec.9 "Mayor--Powers and Duties," p. C-4. The Town's Charter, however, is devoid of any speci"fic language regarding the appointment of the Town's Police Chief, Clerk, or Attorney.

However, according to La. R.S. 33:481, when the provisions of a municipal special legislative charter are silent on a particular matter, then the provisions of the Lawrason Act, La. R.S. 33:321, et seq., shall govern. 3 In the event of a conflict between the special legislative charter and the provisions of the Lawrason Act, the charter shall govern. 3 La. R.S. 33:481 was enacted by Act 52 § 1 of the 2010 Louisiana Legislative Session, and provides the following:

§ 481. Municipalities governed by a special legislative charter; silent charter

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in any municipality governed by a special legislative charter, if the provisions of the special legislative charter are silent on a particular matter, then the provisions of Part I of Chapter 2 of Title 33 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 shall govern. If a conflict exists between the provisions of the special legislative charter and the provisions of Part I of Chapter 2 of Title 33 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, then the provisions of the special legislative charter shall govern.

Page 3

Honorable Johnny Cox
Opinion 13-0055
Page 3

La. RS. 33:404 sets forth the duties of a mayor in a Lawrason Act municipality. Subsection (A)(3) explains that the mayor is responsible for "the appointment or removal of a nonelected chief of police, the municipal clerk, the municipal attorney ... subject to the approval by the board of aldermen,. except that in the case of a tie vote, the recommendation of the mayor shall prevail." La. RS. 33:404(A)(3).

Based upon the Town's past practice of appointing the police chief, this Office will operate under the assumption that this is not an elected position. 4

It is, therefore, this Office's opinion that inasmuch as the Town of Coushatta's special legislative charter is silent as to the appointment process of the Town's Police Chief, Clerk, and Attorney. La. RS. 33:404(A)(3) controls this appointment process whereby the Mayor shall appoint the Town's Chief of Police, Clerk, and Attorney, subject to the Council's approval. In the event of a tie, then the Mayor's recommendation shall prevail.

We hope that this information sufficiently answers your inquires. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Very truly yours,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: ·~ui~HERINE K. GREEN
Assistant Attorney General

JDC:KG:jv

The minutes from the Town Council Meetings of January 12, 2010, January 11, 2011, and January 10, 2012 reflect that the recent practice has been for the Mayor to recommend a Chief of Police who was then approved by the Council. This lends support to this Office's assumption that the police chief is a non~elected position in the Town.