Can Louisiana's Nineteenth Judicial District Court use a one-time court-cost appropriation for temporary employee pay supplements?

Plain-English summary

The Nineteenth Judicial District Court asked whether it could give employees a temporary pay supplement from a one-time legislative appropriation designated for court costs. The attorney general said yes for the proposed expenditure. It reasoned that employee compensation was part of the court's operational costs and therefore could count as court costs for this appropriation.

The opinion focused on Act 397 of the 2023 Regular Legislative Session and the court's authority to pay necessary secretarial, clerical, research, administrative, and other personnel. It did not turn the one-time appropriation into a general, recurring source of salary funding.

What this means for you

Court administrators

The opinion permitted the Nineteenth Judicial District Court to use the one-time court-cost funds for the temporary salary supplement it described. Its reasoning tied compensation to operating the court and to the legislature's stated appropriation purpose.

Court employees

The opinion classified the proposed temporary pay increase as a permissible court operational expenditure. It did not specify an individual employee's payment amount or promise continuing supplements.

Budget officials

The office read the appropriation's “court costs” designation alongside the court's express personnel-spending authority. It concluded that the proposed compensation use fit the designated purpose of the one-time funds.

Common questions

Q: Can the court use a court-cost appropriation for employee pay?
A: The attorney general said yes for the Nineteenth Judicial District Court's proposed short-term supplements, because employee compensation was directly related to operating the court.

Q: Was the legislature's appropriation available for any court expense?
A: The opinion said the legislature directed the money to court costs. Its analysis found the described employee pay supplement within that purpose.

Q: Did the opinion authorize a permanent raise from the one-time funds?
A: It addressed a temporary pay increase from a one-time appropriation. It did not analyze permanent or recurring salary funding.

Background and statutory framework

Act 397 of the 2023 Regular Session appropriated one-time general-fund money to the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for court costs. The opinion described the legislature's power to direct the purpose of appropriated funds, discussed La. R.S. 13:62's court-cost definition, and cited La. R.S. 13:992 for the court's authority to pay personnel needed for its work. Because employee pay was a court operational cost, the office found the proposed supplement permissible under the act.

Citations and references

• Act 397 of the 2023 Regular Session (one-time court-cost appropriation)
• La. R.S. 13:62 (court cost and fee definition)
• La. R.S. 13:992 (court personnel spending authority)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0063

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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May 29, 2024
OPINION 24-0063

The Honorable Donald R. Johnson
9OA1(a) PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS- Constitution Chief Judge
La. Const. art. III, § 16 La. R.S. 13:992 Nineteenth Judicial District Court
300 North Blvd., Suite 8401
La. 13:62
Baton Rouge LA 70801 . . .

Discusses constitutionality of short term, supplemental payments to employees of the Nineteenth Judicial District.

Dear Judge Johnson:

You have requested an opinion from our office regarding whether Nineteenth Judicial District Court (“the Court”) employees may receive a salary supplement derived from a one-time appropriation to the Court contained within Act 397 of the 2023 Regular Legislative Session. The Court wants to distribute a portion of the one-time funds in the form of a temporary pay increase to employees of the Court. Your request has been assigned to me for research and reply.

Your request indicates that an appropriation contained in Act 397 of the 2023 Regular Legislative Session is the source of the funds for the proposed payments. The legislature’s power to appropriate under La. Const. Art. Ill, § 16 includes the power to decide how the appropriated funds will be spent. State Pub. Facilities Auth. v. Foster, 2001-0009 (La. 9/18/01), 795 So. 2d 288, 301, quoting Henry v. Edwards, 346 So. 2d 153, 157 (La. 1977).

Act 397 of the 2023 Regular Session appropriated $1 000,000 payable out of the State General fund to the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for court costs. Thus, the legislature directed the Court to spend $1 000,000 for the specific purpose of paying court costs. A determination must be made as to whether employee compensation is considered court costs.

“Court cost and fee” is defined in La. R.S. 13:62 as a cost or fee paid as part of the imposition or execution of a criminal sentence, in connection with the filing or processing of any civil or criminal matter, or the filing or processing of any pleading in any civil or criminal matter. The Louisiana Supreme Court considers court costs for the purposes of evaluating requests for new court costs and fees as a cost that is used to defray the operational costs of the courts and the court-related operational costs of law enforcement, clerks of court, district attorneys, the indigent defense system, state and local probation

Page 2

OPINION 24-0063
Judge Donald R. Johnson
Page 2

and parole functions, and other court-related functions.1 Additionally, our office has found operational expenses of the court to include the payment of premiums for a judicial liability insurance policy, attending judicial conferences, supplies, approved computer equipment, a monthly salary to a court reporter for services in criminal cases, folders, letterhead, witness fees for off-duty police officers, uniforms for city court employees, law books, dues for bar memberships, postage, petty cash, salaries forjudges ad hoc, and payment for interpreters for court proceedings.2

The Nineteenth Judicial District Court is expressly authorized to expend funds for the salaries of secretarial, clerical, research, administrative, or other personnel as they deem necessary to expedite the business and function of the court. La. R.S. I 3:992. Clearly, employee compensation is directly related to the cost to operate the court. Therefore, it would be permissible for the Nineteenth Judicial District Court to supplement the salaries of its employees.

Based on the foregoing, it is the opinion of this office that the proposed expenditure to supplement the salary of the Nineteenth Judicial District Court employees with a one-time operational expenditure may be considered court costs for the purposes of Act 397 of the 2023 Regular Legislative Session.

We hope that this opinion has adequately addressed 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: /3t
Brett A. Robinson
Assistant Attorney General

LM/BAR

1 See Supreme Court of Louisiana Report of the Judicial Council to the Louisiana Legislature regarding Requests for Costs and Fees, March 1, 2021 and April 18, 2017. 2 La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 21-0061, 83-393, La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 78-422, La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 93-1 29, La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 80-225, La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 83-1 83 and 81-68, La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 83-772, La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 80-1394A, and La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 95-1 91.