Can a full-time St. Bernard Parish fire employee also work part-time for the parish coroner?

Plain-English summary

St. Bernard Parish's coroner asked whether a full-time parish fire-department employee could also investigate deaths part-time for the coroner. The attorney general said the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law did not prohibit that combination.

The parish fire job was full-time employment. The coroner investigator position, specifically authorized by statute and filled by the elected coroner, was a part-time appointive office on the as-needed schedule described. The parish and coroner were separate political subdivisions for this law. La. R.S. 42:63(E) barred a second full-time government office or job, but the investigator role was part-time. The office did not decide separate Ethics Code questions.

What this means for you

Parish fire employees

The opinion allowed the described full-time fire job alongside part-time, as-needed coroner investigator service under the dual-officeholding law. Its answer depended on the investigator role remaining part-time.

Parish coroners

The opinion classified the investigator whom the coroner could employ under statute as holding a part-time appointive office. That classification kept the position outside the law's prohibition on two full-time government positions in this fact pattern.

Parish employers

The office treated the full-time fire job as parish employment and the coroner as a separate subdivision. It expressly left any Ethics Code implications to the state Board of Ethics.

Common questions

Q: Can a full-time St. Bernard Parish fire employee investigate deaths part-time for the coroner?
A: The attorney general said yes under the dual-officeholding and employment statute it examined, for the as-needed part-time investigator position described.

Q: Why did the second job count as an appointive office?
A: The opinion said state law specifically authorized the investigator position and the elected coroner filled it.

Q: Did the opinion approve the arrangement under the Ethics Code?
A: No. It did not decide that separate question and identified the Louisiana State Board of Ethics as the authority for ethics rulings.

Background and statutory framework

The coroner's request concerned a full-time fire-department employee and a proposed part-time investigator position. La. R.S. 13:5705(C) was cited for the coroner's authority to employ investigators. La. R.S. 42:63(E) prohibited a person holding full-time government employment or office from also holding another full-time government position. Because the proposed coroner appointment was part-time, the office concluded that prohibition did not reach the combination.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 13:5705(C) (coroner investigator authority)
• La. R.S. 42:63(E) (two full-time positions restriction)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0061

Original opinion text

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

STATE OF LOUISIANA
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01-VICE OF II IF; rToRNEy GI:xi:R.L
P0. Box 94003
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70S04—9003

Liz 1v1uriiii.
ArT0RNE1 GENER.\I.

July 25, 2024
OPINION 24-0061

Greg Fernandez, MD
78 Dual Officeholding

      St. Bernard Parish Coroner                             La. R.S. 42:61, etseq.                  La. R.S. 13:5701, etseq.

901 W. Judge Perez Dr.
The provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law
Chalmette, LA 70043
do not prohibit a full-time employee of St. Bernard Parish from
serving as a part-time investigator with the St. Bernard Parish Coroner.
Dear Dr. Fernandez:

Our office received your request for an opinion regarding whether a full-time employee of St. Bernard Parish may serve as a part-time investigator with the St. Bernard Parish Coroner (Coroner).

Pursuant to La. Const. art. X, § 22, the legislature has enacted laws regulating dual employment and defining, regulating, and prohibiting dual office holding in state and local government. The provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Employment Law, found at La. R.S. 42:61, et seq., govern questions concerning the ability to hold two or more public offices and/or positions simultaneously. Classifying the correct nature of the positions held is essential for the purposes of applying the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.

St. Bernard Parish operates under a home rule charter form of government.1 The Parish government was established as a “president-council” form of government.2 According to the information provided to this office, the employee in question is a full-time employee of the St. Bernard Parish Fire Department, which is classified as “full time” “employment for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.3

The Coroner is elected pursuant to the provisions of La. R.S. 13:5701. The Coroner is authorized to employ necessary investigators.4 According to the information provided to this office, the investigator of concern will work part time on an as-needed basis. The

1
Article I, Section 1-01, St. Bernard Parish Home Rule Charter.
2 Article I, Section 1-02, St. Bernard Parish Home Rule Charter.

“Full time” means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment and which is at least seven hours per day of work and at least thirty-five hours per week of work. La. R.S. 42:62(4). “Employment” means any job compensated on a salary or per diem basis, other than an elective or appointive office, in which a person is an employee of the state government or of a political subdivision. La. R.S. 42:62(3).

La. R.S. 13:5705(C).

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OPINION 24-0061
Dr. Greg Fernandez
Page 2

position of investigator is specifically authorized by statute and filled by the Coroner who is an elected official. The position of part-time investigator with the Coroner is classified as a “part time” “appointive office” for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.5

St. Bernard Parish and the Coroner are separate political subdivisions for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.6

The most relevant provision of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law is La. R.S. 42:63(E), which provides in pertinent part:

No person holding a full-time appointive office or full-time employment in the government of this state or of a political subdivision thereof shall at the same time hold another full-time appointive office or full-time employment in the government of the state of Louisiana, in the government of a political subdivision thereof, or in a combination of these.

This prohibition is not applicable because one of the positions is part time.

Based on the applicable provisions of law and the information you have provided, it is the opinion of this office that the provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law do not prohibit a full-time employee of St. Bernard Parish from serving as a part-time investigator with the St. Bernard Parish Coroner.

Please note that our expressed opinion relative to state law is limited to an examination of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law. Further, it does not address the potential applicability of the provisions of the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics, La. R.S. 42:1111, et seq. Advisory rulings addressing questions underthe Ethics Code are within the jurisdiction of the Louisiana State Board of Ethics. The Board may be contacted at the following address: P.O. Box 4368, Baton Rouge, LA 70821 phone:
,

225-21 9-5600.

5 “Part time” means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment which is less than the number of hours of work defined in this Section as full time. La. R.S. 42:62(5). “Appointive office” means any office in any branch of government or other position on an agency board, or commission, or any executive office of any agency, board, commission or department which is specifically established or specifically authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof and which is filled by appointment or election by an elected or appointed public official or by a governmental body composed of such officials of this state or of a political subdivision thereof. La. R.S. 42:62(2). 6 “Political subdivision” means a parish, municipality, and any other unit of local government, including a

school board and a special district, authorized by law to perform governmental functions. In addition for the purposes of this Part, mayor’s courts, justice of peace courts, district attorneys, sheriffs, clerks of court, coroners, tax assessors, registrars of voters, and all other elected parochial officials shall be separate political subdivisions. La. R.S. 42:62(9).

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OPINION 24-0061
Dr. Greg Fernandez
Page 3

We hope that this opinion adequately addresses the legal issues 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:____
Madeline S. Carbonette
Assistant Attorney General

LM: MSC