Do Bogalusa police employees keep twelve months of sick leave after the city's population falls below the statutory threshold?

Plain-English summary

Bogalusa's acting police chief asked whether police department employees still had a twelve-month sick-leave entitlement after the city's population fell below the threshold associated with a statewide police sick-leave statute. The attorney general said they did, based on Bogalusa's own Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service Board rules.

Those rules were adopted under earlier fire and police civil-service acts and provided full salary for the first twelve months of sick leave, with leave granted by the appointing authority and approved by the board. La. R.S. 33:2534 continued rules and rights already in force until amended or repealed by the proper authority. The opinion said the city board, under La. R.S. 33:2538, was the authority to amend or repeal the sick-leave rules. A population decline by itself had not ended the existing rule.

What this means for you

Bogalusa police employees

The opinion recognized a continuing twelve-month sick-leave entitlement under the city's civil-service rules. The rule it quoted required the appointing authority to grant leave with Civil Service Board approval and provided full salary for the first twelve months.

Bogalusa Civil Service Board

The opinion treated the board's existing sick-leave rules as continuing under state law. It identified the board as the authority to adopt, amend, or repeal those rules; until amendment or repeal, the existing entitlement remained.

Municipal officials

The office rejected the idea that Bogalusa's lower population alone removed the sick-leave entitlement. Its conclusion rested on preservation of the city's rules, rather than present qualification under the population-based statewide provision.

Common questions

Q: Did Bogalusa police lose twelve months of sick leave when the city shrank?
A: The attorney general said no. Existing civil-service rules still provided that leave and remained in force under the statutory continuation provision.

Q: Can the mayor end the sick-leave rule because Bogalusa is below the population threshold?
A: The opinion said the board was the appropriate authority to amend or repeal the rules. It did not treat the population decline as automatically changing them.

Q: What pay did the quoted Bogalusa rule provide during sick leave?
A: It provided full salary for the first twelve months and described possible further leave at reduced pay under its stated conditions.

Background and statutory framework

Bogalusa's civil-service rules dated to 1950 and were adopted under earlier municipal fire and police legislation. The opinion noted that a separate statewide statute covered 52 weeks of sick leave in municipalities within a specified population range. Bogalusa's population had fallen below that range, but La. R.S. 33:2534 preserved its existing civil-service rules and rights until amended or repealed. La. R.S. 33:2538 assigned rulemaking authority to the board. Those provisions supported the opinion's conclusion for Bogalusa police employees.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 33:2534 (continuation of existing civil-service rules and rights)
• La. R.S. 33:2538 (board rulemaking authority)
• La. R.S. 33:2214 (population-based sick-leave provision noted)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0037

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMF:NT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF TFIE ATTORNEY GENERAL
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUoF:, LA
70804-9005

Liz MURRILL
.

A’rrooNEy GENERAL

June 6, 2024
OPINION 24-0037

.
71-1-1 MUNICIPAL FIRE & POLICE CIVIL SERVICE
Chief Percy Knight
Acting Chief of Police La. R.S. 33:2534 La. R.S. 33:2538
La. R.S. 33:2214
Bogalusa Police Department
21 4 Arkansas Ave.
Employees of the Bogalusa Police Department are entitled
to 12 months of sick leave pursuant to the Civil Service
Bogalusa, LA 70427
Rules ofthe Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service Board for
Bogalusa.

Dear Chief Knight:

This office has received your request for an opinion regarding the sick leave entitlement for police department employees. In your request, you state that the mayor of Bogalusa is challenging the entitlement of employees of the police department to 52 weeks of sick leave because the population of Bogalusa has fallen below I 3,000.1 For the reasons that follow, we find that employees of the Bogalusa Police Department are entitled to 12 months of sick leave pursuant to the Civil Service Rules (Rules) of the Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service Board for Bogalusa (Board).

The Board Rules were first adopted on September 8, 1950, in accordance with Act 102 of 1944, as amended by Act 197 of 1948 of the Louisiana Legislature.2 The Rules specifically provide for sick leave as follows, in pertinent part:

The appointing authority31 shall, with the approval ofthe Civil Service Board, grant sick leave for sickness or injury, with pay or with reduced pay, to all regular employees covered by Act I 02 of I 944 as amended by Act I 97 of 1948, covering the Fire & Police Departments of the City of Bogalusa, Bogalusa, Louisiana.

The following provisions shall govern all such leaves:

A. Full salary shall be paid for the first twelve (12) months of said sick leave, as provided under Act 59 of I 942 as amended by Act I 96 of

1
In a phone conversation, you advised our office that the population of Bogalusa is currently under 1 1000.
2
Act 102 of 1 944 applied to municipalities with populations of not less than 13,000 and not more than 100,000. Act 197 of 1948 amended the higher limit of the population of Act 102 to 250,000. Current La.
R.S. 33:2214 authorizes 52 weeks of sick leave for police department employees of municipalities having a population of not less than 12,000 nor more than 250,000.
Appointing Authority is defined in Rule 1.3 to mean “any official, officer, board, commission, council, or person having the power to make appointments to positions in the municipal fire and police service.”

Page 2

OPINION 24-0037
Chief Percy Knight
Page 2

1948 covering the employees ofthe Fire Department and Act 101 of I 948 covering the employees of the Police Department.

B. When sick leave or disability extends beyond a twelve-month period, this employee shall be granted further leave at reduced pay for years of service in the Department. Time granted shall be authorized by the Civil Service Board after written request is received from the employee with a medical certificate of disability.

Pursuant to La. R.S. 33:2534, any system of municipal fire and police civil service under Act 102 of 1944, as amended, which is in force on the effective date of this Part is continued in effect under the provisions of this Part.4 The rights of any person under Act 102 of 1944, as amended, or under any fire and police civil service laws, which exist on the effective date of this Part are continued in effect. Every rule, classification plan or allocation established under the above provisions which is in force on the effective date of this Part is continued in effect until it is amended or repealed by the proper authority under this Part. Id. Because the Board Rules were in effect on the effective date of Part Ill and La. R.S. 33:2534, police employees continue to have a rightto 12 months of sick leave as provided under the rules.

Furthermore, according to La. R.S. 33:2538, the Board is the appropriate authority to adopt, amend, or repeal the rules by which sick leave has been granted. Until and unless the Board amends or repeals those rules, Bogalusa Police Department employees will continue to enjoy I 2 months of sick leave under the rules. Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office employees of the Bogalusa Police Department are entitled to I 2 months of sick leave pursuant to the Civil Service Rules of the Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service Board for Bogalusa.

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

With best regards,
LIZ MURRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:
Chimène St. Amant
Assistant Attorney General

LM/CS

“ This Part is Part Ill entitled, “Fire and Police Civil Service Law for Small Municipalities and for Parishes

and Fire Protection Districts.” Part II was added in 1964.