Were Southern University police officers at the New Orleans campus eligible for Louisiana supplemental pay?

Plain-English summary

In 2015, the Louisiana Attorney General considered whether commissioned officers of Southern University Police Department's New Orleans campus qualified for state supplemental pay. The AG concluded that they could qualify under La. R.S. 40:1667.1 and the state constitutional pay provision, assuming the facts in the request and attached letter were correct. The conclusion depended on each officer satisfying the statutory conditions, including the described full-time police duties in New Orleans.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. 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.

Common questions

Q: Did the AG say every campus police officer automatically received supplemental pay? A: No. The AG said qualified and eligible commissioned officers at the New Orleans campus were entitled to it if the factual account of their duties was accurate and they met all statutory qualifications.

Q: What police work mattered to the AG's conclusion? A: The request described full-time commissioned officers headquartered in New Orleans who served the general public by making arrests, issuing citations, and serving warrants while patrolling the locations covered by the statute. The AG relied on that description.

Q: Did a past court ruling against the pay provision settle the question? A: The opinion discussed a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that had found the earlier provision unconstitutional, then explained that a later amendment to the Louisiana Constitution authorized supplemental pay for certain officers. It treated that amendment as superseding the earlier ruling on that point.

Background and statutory framework

The question was sent by the Municipal Police Supplemental Pay Board. The opinion explained that the municipal-police pay provision had been redesignated in 2014 under La. R.S. 40:1667.1 and that La. Const. art. X, § 10(A)(1)(b) authorized specified supplements to uniform pay plans. The AG accepted the police chief's description of the campus officers' duties for purposes of its conditional answer.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 40:1667.1, supplemental pay for qualifying officers.
• La. Const. art. X, § 10(A)(1)(b), authority for certain law-enforcement pay supplements.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/14-0198

Original opinion text

~tute of ~lluisinmt
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWEll
70804-9005
ATIORNEY GENERAL

JUN 17 2015
OPINION 14-0198

Chief Bry Layrisson
B CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
Chairman
BO-A POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS- Officers, Agents. Employees

     Municipal Police Supplemental Pay Board            La. RS. 33:2218.2           La. RS. 40:1667.1

P.O. Box 66614, Box B-8
Pursuant to La. RS. 40:1667.1(A)(2)(a), commissioned police
Baton Rouge, LA 70896-6614
officers employed by the Southern University Police
Department, New Orleans campus, are entitled to state supplemental pay, provided that such officers meet all the
Dear Mr. Layrisson: qualifications required in the statute.

You have requested an Attorney General's opinion as to whether commissioned officers employed by the Southern University Police Department, New Orleans campus ("SUNOPD"), are eligible for supplemental pay pursuant to La. R.S. 33:2218.2(A)(2)(a).'

As an initial matter, we note that the purpose of state supplemental pay for municipal police officers is to promote the rublic peace and safety, and the enforcement of state laws by municipal police officers. The terms "municipality" and "municipal" include bona fide police agencies of the state or its political subdivisions? Further, except where this purpose would be clearly abased, the supplemental pay provisions should be broadly construed so as to favor an employee's inclusion within its coveraqe."

The language of the former La. R.S. 33:2218.2(A)(2)(a), now found under La. R.S.
40:1667.1 (A)(2)(a) reads:

Every sworn, commissioned law enforcement officer employed on a full­ time basis by a bona fide police agency of the state or its political subdivisions, other than the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and headquartered in the city of New Orleans and who serves the welfare of the public in the capacity of a police officer by providing police services to the general public through effecting arrests, issuing citations, and serving warrants

1 Note that by way of the Louisiana Act 158 of 2014, La. R.S. 33:2218.1 et seq. was redesignated under La. RS. 40: 1667 et seq .. which became effective on August 1. 2014.
Z La. RS. 40:1667.
3 La. RS. 40:1667.1 (A)(2)(b).
4 La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 83-43.

Page 2

OPINION 14-0198
Chief Bry Layrisson
Page 2
while patrolling levees, waterways, and riverfront areas, or while patrolling bridges that are within the boundaries of the city of New Orleans shall be paid by the state extra compensation in the amount of five hundred dollars per month in addition to the compensation now paid to him by his employer out of self-generated revenue attributable to the agency employing such officers. To be eligible for the extra compensation, each such law enforcement officer shall have completed one year of service, and any such law enforcement officer hired after March 31, 1986, shall also have completed and passed a [POST] council-certified training program, as provided in R.S. 40:2405.

A proper determination concerning the SUNOPD officers' right to receive supplemental pay from the State requires a brief review of the law and jurisprudence involving La. R.S.40:1667.1(A)(2)(a).

In State Civil SeN. Comm'n v. Dep't of Pub. Safety Dir., 873 So.2d 636 (La. 4/14/04), the Louisiana Supreme Court held that the statute in question was unconstitutional because it infringed upon the exclusive authority of the Civil Service Commission to regulate compensation for state classified employees. However, three years after the Civil SeN. Comm'n decision was rendered, Act 485 of 2007 Louisiana Legislative Session amended La. Const. art. X, § 10(A)(1)(b) to authorize the legislature to provide for supplemental pay to certain officers employed by a bona fide police agency of the state or its political subdlvisions." La. Const. art. X, § 10(A)(1)(b) reads:

Nothing herein shall prevent the legislature from supplementing the uniform pay plans for sworn, commissioned law enforcement officers employed by a bona fide police agency of the state or its political subdivisions and for fire protection officers employed by a port authority, from any available funds of the state, the department, the agency, or the political subdivision, provided that such supplement may be made available only for those sworn, commissioned law enforcement officers employed on a full-time basis who serve the welfare of the public in the capacity of a police officer by providing police services to the general public, by effecting arrests, issuing citations, and serving warrants while patrolling waterways and riverfront areas and for those fire protection officers employed on a full-time basis who provide fire protection services to a port authority.

This constitutional amendment supersedes the finding in Civil SeN. Comm'n regarding the unconstitutionality of Section (A)(2)(a).

5 Louisiana Act 485 of 2007 was approved with 56% of the vote. http://baliotpedia.org/Louisiana_Salary_Supplements_for_LaW_Enforcement_Officers_and_Firefighters, Act_485(2007)#cite_note-2. (Last visited 12/9/2014).

Page 3

OPINION 14-0198
Chief Bry Layrisson
Page 3

Here, your request makes reference to a letter from the SUNOPD's Chief of Police, stating that the language found in La. RS. 40:1667.1(A)(2)(a) squarely applies to the SUNOPD officers. Specifically, the letter reads, in pertinent part, as follows:

The Officers in [the SUNOPD] are sworn and commissioned law enforcement officers by the state of Louisiana, employed on a full-time basis by a bona fide police agency.... [The SUNOPD is] headquartered in the city of New Orleans and servers] the welfare of the general public in the capacity of police officers. [The SUNOPDj providers] police services to the general public through effecting arrests, issuing citations, and serving warrants while patrolling levees, waterways, and bridges that are within the boundaries of the city of New Orleans."

Therefore, since the Southern University, New Orleans campus, is considered a state agenc/ located within the boundaries of the City of New Orleans, and the tasks and functions of the SUNOPD officers are those normally performed by law enforcement officers as defined in the constitution and the supplemental pay statute, it appears that qualified and eligible SUNOPD officers are included within the meaning of La. Const. art. X, § 10(A)(1)(b) and La. RS. 40:1667.1 (A)(2)(a) and are entitled to state supplemental pay.

In sum, assuming that the facts provided in your request and attached correspondence are accurate, it is the opinion of this office that pursuant to La. RS. 40:1667.1(A)(2)(a), qualified and eligible commissioned police officers employed by the Southern University Police Department, New Orleans campus, are entitled to state supplemental pay, provided that such officers meet all the qualifications required in the statute.

We trust this adequately responds to your request. However, if our office can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours very truly,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTOR~GEN RAL

By:
Ethel Solac e Gr ham
Assistant Attorney General

JDC: ESG

6 See letter dated June 30,2014, attached to your request. 7 http://suno.edu/technology/policies/(Lastvisited12/9/2014).AlsoseeLa.Atty.Gen.Op.No. 79-648.