Could Livingston Parish's sheriff buy land for an emergency center near the 2023 governor's election despite payroll-padding limits?

Plain-English summary

Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard asked whether buying a $4.1 million site for a planned emergency response and evacuation center would violate Louisiana's political payroll-padding statutes. The purchase would raise the office's monthly spending by more than 15 percent during the period preceding the 2023 gubernatorial election. The official opinion concluded that the purchase and construction were outside the statutory prohibition.

The AG distinguished the center from day-to-day operating expenses. The legislature had appropriated money for the center's planning and construction in 2022, and planning had begun in 2021. Citing earlier opinions about reconstruction and physical improvements, the AG treated the facility as an ongoing capital project. The opinion reports that the Legislative Auditor described operating expenses as including furniture, fixtures, and movable equipment; the AG drew the conclusion about construction.

This was a decision about the sheriff's described project, including the land needed for construction. It did not say that every large election-year expense falls outside the payroll-padding law.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2024. 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

Did the $4.1 million land purchase exceed the spending threshold described in the request?
Yes. The sheriff said the purchase would increase spending by more than 15 percent under the comparison he supplied. The AG's answer turned on the type of expense, not on disputing that figure.

Why did the AG exclude the emergency center from operating expenses?
The center had been planned before the election period, and the AG treated its construction and necessary site purchase as an ongoing capital project. The opinion also cited the Legislative Auditor's description of operating expenses as including furniture, fixtures, and movable equipment.

Did the opinion authorize unrelated election-year spending?
No. It addressed funding for this center and the purchase of immovable property for its construction. The opinion describes the statutes as restricting increases in payroll or other operating expenses.

Background and statutory framework

La. R.S. 14:139 and 14:139.1 supplied the political payroll-padding question. As the opinion describes the rule, a covered public officer cannot increase payroll or other operating expenses more than 15 percent above the specified monthly average before an election. The AG relied on earlier opinions that distinguished ongoing renovation and physical improvements from ordinary operating expenses and on the strict construction of a felony prohibition.

Citations and references

Law cited: La. R.S. 14:139; La. R.S. 14:139.1; 2022 La. Acts No. 117.

Earlier AG opinions cited: La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 84-0398, 99-62, and 03-0227.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/23-0084

Original opinion text

State of Louisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
Jeff Landry
Attorney General

January4, 2024
OPINION 23-0084

The Honorable Jason Ard
16CRIMINALLAW-Crimes&Offenses

Sheriff, Livingston Parish
La. R.S. 14:139 La. R.S. 14:139.1
P.. Box 850
9.
Livingston, LA 70754
The construction of the Livingston Parish Emergency Response and Evacuation Center does not fall under the purview of the payroll padding prohibition of La. R.S. 14:139 and La. R.S. 14:1391.

Dear Sheriff Ard:

You have requested an opinion from our office regarding the application of La. RS.
14:139 and La. R.S. 14:139.1 with respect to an acquisition of land by the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office (‘LPSO”). The land will be used to construct the Livingston Parish Emergency Response and Evacuation Center (“Center”). Your request has been assigned to me for research and reply.

During the 2022 regular session, the legislature appropriated a total of $34,120,000.00 for the “Planning and Construction” of the Center.1 The planning stages for the Center began as early as November of 2021.

In order to construct the Center, LPSO must purchase immovable property on which to build the facility. LPSO has located property with a purchase price of $4,100,000.00.
Should LPSO proceed with purchasing the subject property, it will represent an increase of more than fifteen percent (15%) of LPSO’s average expenditures in the month it is purchased, as compared to the average of LPSO’s expenditures for each of the months of the first six months of the twelve months preceding the gubernatorial election this year.
As such, you would like to know if this purchase will violate the Political Payroll Padding statutes contained in La. R.S. 14:139 and La. R.S. 14:139.1.

Po!itical payroll padding is committed when any public officer, including a sheriff, increases the payroll or other operating expenses of his office more than fifteen percent (1 5%) over its average amount of such expenditures for each of the months of the first six of the twelve months next preceding the election.2 The Political Payroll Padding statutes are intended to prevent a sheriff from “unreasonably increasing the size of his staff to enhance the power and prestige of his office in an election year” and to restrict “a sheriff’s payroll actions to those that are absolutely necessary to maintain performance of his official duties during the election year.”3

1
2022 La. Acts No. 117.
2 La. R.S. 14:1 39(A)(2) and 14:1 39.1(A)(2).
See La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 84-0398.

Page 2

OPINION 23-0084
SheriffJason Ard
Page 2

Next, we examine whether the construction of the Center is an “operating expense.” Our office has previously found that an on an ongoing project such as a reconstruction or renovation falls outside of the purview of day-to-day operating expenses and therefore do notfaliwithinthe reach ofthe statute’s prohibitions.4The prohibitions in La. R.S. 14:139.1 must be strictly construed since the violation of La. R.S. I 4:1 39. 1 (A) constitutes a felony.5 This office has previously found that, in the context of a similar prohibition for other elected officials, La. R.S. 14:139, remodeling or physical improvements to an office, are not operating expenses.6

Our office has previously stated that for an ongoing project such as a reconstruction/renovation is not the kind of corrupt activity that the prohibition in La. R.S. I 4: 1 39 is designed to prevent.7 The same can be said for the construction of the Center, which has been planned since at least November of 2021.

Additionally, the Legislative Auditor’s office has advised that for accounting and auditing purposes, the term “operating expenses” includes furniture, fixtures and other movable items ofequipment.8Whereas, the construction ofthe actual Centerwould be considered, instead, as a capital improvement.

Based on the following, it is the opinion of this office that the construction ofthe Livingston Parish Emergency Response and Evacuation Center does not fall under the purview of the payroll padding prohibition contained in La. R.S. 14:139.1. Therefore, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office would not be in violation of La. R.S. 14:139 or La. R.S. 14:139.1 by funding the on-going construction project including the purchase immovable property for said construction within six months of the 2023 gubernatorial election.

We trust that this adequately responds to your request and the issue that you have raised. If our office can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

With best regards,
JEFF LAN DRY
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:
Brett A. son
Assistant Attorney General
JL/BAR

La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 99-62.
La. R.S. 14:139.1(D).
6 La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 03-0227 and 99-62.
Id.
8 See La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 99-62.