What share of retiree insurance did Webster Parish owe a deputy hired there in 2018 who planned to retire in 2024?

Plain-English summary

Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker asked whether the office would owe 50% or 100% of a particular deputy's retiree insurance premiums if the deputy retired in 2024. The official opinion applied La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(3) and concluded that the sheriff's office would owe "fifty percent of the cost" of the premiums if this deputy retired from the Webster office in 2024.

The distinction turns on the office and hiring date. The AG said La. R.S. 13:5554(G)(1), the provision identified in the request for 100% payment, lists other parishes and does not list Webster. The Webster-specific subsection (Y) applies to a deputy hired there on or after January 1, 2010. The deputy in the request began working for Webster in 2018. The sheriff reported 17 years and four months of creditable service with Webster Parish Sheriff's Office, and the AG assumed the office had a policy for calculating that service. Subsection (Y)(3) calls for 50% payment at 15 years of credited service, while the opinion identifies a 75% tier at 20 years.

The AG's answer was conditional: the deputy must retire directly from Webster Parish Sheriff's Office, and the opinion assumed the office had a policy for calculating the credited service reported in the request. It did not decide benefits for a different employee or a retirement in another year.

What this means for you

Webster Parish Sheriff's Office. For the deputy and proposed 2024 retirement described, the AG applied the Webster-specific 50% premium provision rather than the 100% provision identified in the request.

Deputies and benefit administrators. The opinion treats the Webster hiring date and credited service total as decisive facts. It assumes, rather than establishes, how the office calculates that service.

Common questions

Why did the 100% insurance rule not apply to this Webster deputy?
The AG said Webster is absent from the parish list in La. R.S. 13:5554(G)(1), and the Webster-specific subsection (Y) controlled for a deputy hired there after January 1, 2010.

Did the AG calculate this deputy's credited service?
No. The AG used the sheriff's reported total of 17 years and four months and expressly assumed Webster had a policy for calculating creditable service. The opinion also reports earlier employment with Bossier and Claiborne Parish sheriffs' offices.

Would the deputy qualify if he retired elsewhere?
The opinion's answer depends on retirement directly from Webster Parish Sheriff's Office; it does not decide a different retirement.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion compares the listed-parish provision in La. R.S. 13:5554(G)(1) with Webster-specific subsection (Y). It discusses subsection (T)'s direct-retirement condition and the premium shares tied to credited service under subsection (Y). Its conclusion concerns one deputy's reported facts and anticipated retirement in 2024.

Citations and references

Statute: La. R.S. 13:5554(G)(1), (Y)(3), (Y)(4), (Y)(5), and (T), as cited in the opinion.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/23-0120

Original opinion text

STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE, LA
70804-9005

Liz MURRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
February 8, 2024
OPINION 23-0120
92-A-2-(n) RETIREMENT — Sheriffs

Honorable Jason Parker
La. RS. 13:5554
Sheriff, Webster Parish
Under the facts alleged, La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(3), rather than La. R.S.
RO. Box 877
13:5554(G)(1), applies such that the Webster Parish Sheriffs Office
5 responsible for paying 50% of the cost of this particular deputy’s viInLlen, Iouisiana 71 flQ
II1. i-I •

insurance premiums if the deputy retires from the Webster Parish Sheriffs Office in 2024.
Dear Sheriff Parker:

Our office received your request for an opinion about the percentage of insurance costs that the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office (hereinafter, “WPSO”) must pay for a certain deputy. More specifically, you ask whether La. R.S. 13:5554(G)(1) or La. R.S.
I 3:5554(Y)(3) applies to determine the percentage of costs to be borne by the WPSO for insurance benefits for which the deputy will be eligible upon his retirement. For the following reasons, it is the opinion of this office that the WPSO is responsible for paying fifty percent ofthe cost ofthe deputy’s insurance premiums under La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(3), rather than one hundred percent of the cost in accordance with La. R.S. I 3:5554(G)(1).

In your letter to this office, you related the following facts. A Webster Parish sheriff’s deputy has indicated that he may retire in 2024. The deputy has worked for the WPSO since February 23, 201 8. Prior to his employment with Webster Parish, the deputy worked for the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office (from March 6, 2006 until April 30, 2015) and the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office (from July 28, 2016 until February 9, 2018). In total, the deputy has seventeen years and four months of creditable service with the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office.1

When the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous and its application does not lead to absurd consequences, no interpretation is allowed. La. CC. Art. 9. Laws on the same subject matter must be interpreted in reference to each other. La. CC. Art. 13.
When there are two statutes concerning the same subject matter, the more specific statute is controlling over the general statute. Black v. St. Tammany Parish Hosp., 2008- 2670 (La. 11/6/09), 25 So.3d 711. Additionally, when a statute includes a list of specific things, anything not included in that list is deemed excluded. Washington v. Premiere Auto, L.L.C., 2003-1614 (La. App. 4 Cir. 3/17/04), 872 So.2d 1187.

According to its language, La. R.S. I 3:5554(G)(1 ) applies only to sheriffs’ offices located in “the parishes of Bossier, St. Bernard, St. Martin, Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard,

1 This opinion assumes that the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office has a policy in place that details how the deputy’s creditable service is determined. This assumption is based upon the request letter’s statement that the deputy in question has seventeen years and four months of creditable service.

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OPINION 23-0 120
Sheriff Jason Parker
Page 2

Caddo, Calcasieu, Caidwell, Cameron, Catahoula, Concordia, East Feliciana, Grant, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lincoln, Livingston, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Red River, St. James, Tangipahoa, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll, and West Feliciana, and the sheriff of the Civil District Court of the parish of Orleans. La. R.S.
. .“

13:5554(G)(1). Notably, Webster Parish is not included in this list. Therefore, unless required by La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(5), as explained below, La. R.S. 13:5554(G)(1) does not apply here.

Per its language, La. R.S. 13:5554(Y) is specific to Webster Parish. Its provisions apply only when a deputy hired by the WPSO on or after January 1, 2010, retires from the WPSO. La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(4). A deputy hired by the WPSO before January 1, 2010, falls under the provisions of La. R.S. I 3:5554(G)(1 ). La. R.S. I 3:5554(Y)(5). Because the deputy who is the subject of your inquiry was hired by the WPSO on February 23, 2018, the provisions of Subsection Y of La. R.S. I 3:5554 determine the percentage of the costs of insurance premiums the WPSO must pay.

A deputy is eligible to qualify for payment of the cost of insurance premiums by a sheriff when the deputy has “completed the years of service required and [has] retired directly from...the sheriff’s office...” La. R.S. 13:5554(T). La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(2) requires the Webster Parish sheriff to pay seventy-five percent of the premium costs when a deputy retires with at least twenty years of creditable service. The WPSO must pay fifty percent of the insurance premium costs if the deputy retires with fifteen years of creditable service.” La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(3).

As stated above, the deputy in question began his employment with the WPSO on February 23, 2018. This date occurred after January 1, 2010. Thus, Subsection (Y) will apply if this deputy also retires from the WPSO. La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(4). Because the deputy will have at least fifteen years, but less than twenty years, of creditable service, La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(3) applies. Thus, the WPSO is required to pay fifty percent of the premium costs for this particular deputy if he retires from the WPSO in 2024.

Considering the above, it is the opinion of this office that La. R.S. 13:5554(Y)(3) will apply to the deputy if he retires from the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office at any time in 2024.

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OPINION 23-0120
Sheriff Jason Parker
Page 3

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

With best regards, I am

Very truly yours,

LIZ MURRILL

By:__

LM/RMS