Can Oberlin hire a code enforcement officer to operate a handheld speed camera, and who supervises that officer?

Plain-English summary

Oberlin's mayor asked whether the town could hire a code enforcement officer to operate a handheld speed camera under its speed-device ordinance and, if so, whether the officer would answer to the mayor or elected police chief. The attorney general said the town could hire a law enforcement officer for that job, but the officer would be under the police chief's authority and administration.

The opinion explained that code enforcement officers may enforce ordinances, but the speed-enforcement scheme it examined contemplated an authorized law enforcement officer operating the device and issuing traffic citations. It read the municipality's traffic-enforcement power as requiring police officers or approved traffic-control devices for these highway ordinances. Oberlin had an elected chief of police, whose authority over day-to-day police operations and personnel covered the proposed speed-camera officer.

What this means for you

Oberlin officials

The opinion allowed the town to hire a law enforcement officer as a code enforcement officer to operate its handheld speed camera. The officer's police work would fall under the elected police chief's administration.

Code enforcement and police officers

The office did not treat the code-enforcement title alone as enough to operate this device and issue traffic citations. It said the person must also be a law enforcement officer under the traffic-enforcement provisions it analyzed.

Elected police chiefs

The opinion treated the speed-camera officer's enforcement work as part of police operations subject to the chief's supervisory authority, including personnel and day-to-day administration.

Common questions

Q: Can Oberlin hire someone to run a handheld speed camera?
A: Yes. The attorney general said the town could hire a law enforcement officer as a code enforcement officer for its speed-device ordinance.

Q: Can any municipal code officer operate the camera and issue traffic tickets?
A: The opinion said the person operating this device and issuing citations had to be a law enforcement officer, not merely someone with a code-enforcement title.

Q: Does the speed-camera officer answer to the mayor or police chief?
A: The opinion said the officer would be under the authority and administration of Oberlin's elected police chief.

Background and statutory framework

Oberlin, a Lawrason Act town, had enacted a speed-device ordinance and wanted to employ a law enforcement officer from another municipality to run a handheld camera. La. R.S. 33:4891(A)(1) defined a local code enforcement officer. The opinion also reviewed municipal highway enforcement authority and mobile-camera rules. It read La. R.S. 33:404 alongside La. R.S. 33:423(A) and the elected chief's supervisory authority over police personnel, concluding that the proposed officer could be hired for the work but would be administered by the chief.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 33:4891(A)(1) (code enforcement officer definition)
• La. R.S. 33:404 (mayoral administration and police-department exception)
• La. R.S. 33:423(A) (chief's police personnel role)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0065

Original opinion text

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

STATE OF LOUISIANA
OF JUSTICE
Oivici OF TFII A FI()I{NE’i GENI]{AL
P.O. Box 94005
B\roN Rouui, L-
70S04—9005

Liz MuRRIIL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
May 30, 2024
OPINION 24-0065

                                                             77         OFFICERS       —  Local &        Municipal;   Selection,

Qualifications, & Tenure; vacancies

La. R.S. 32:1, etseq.
La. R.S. 33:404
The Honorable Larry W. Alexander
Mayor, Town of Oberlin
L
La. R.S. 33:321, etseq.
L:
I 03 East 6th Avenue . .

The Town of Oberlin may hire a law enforcement officer to the .

Oberlin, LA 70655
position of code enforcement officer to enforce the speed
enforcement device ordinance enacted by the Town. The code enforcement officer would be under the authority and
Dear Mayor Alexander: administration of the chief of police.

You requested an opinion of this office regarding whether I ) the mayor of the Town of Oberlin may hire an individual in the position of code enforcement officer for the purpose of enforcing the municipal ordinance regarding speed enforcement devices; and 2) if the Town of Oberlin is permitted to hire a code enforcement officer, whether the code enforcement officer would be under the authority and administration of the chief of police or the mayor.

The Town of Oberlin enacted an ordinance to utilize a speed enforcement device and would like to hire an individual as a code enforcement officer to operate the speed enforcement device pursuant to La. R.S. 32:1, et seq. You indicated that the speed enforcement device to be utilized by the Town of Oberlin is a handheld camera. You additionally indicated that Town of Oberlin would like to hire an individual that is currently employed as a law enforcement officer for a different municipality to operate the hand held speed safety camera.

For the reasons that follow, we find that the Town of Oberlin may hire a law enforcement officer to the position of code enforcement officer for the purpose of enforcing the town’s municipal ordinance regarding speed enforcement devices. In addition, we determine that the code enforcement officer would be under the authority and administration ofthe chief of police.

The Town of Oberlin is a Louisiana municipality governed by the Lawrason Act, La. R.S.
33:321, et seq. The chief of police of the Town of Oberlin is an elected official. Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:404(A)(1) provides that the mayor of a Lawrason Act municipality has the power:

[t]o supervise and direct the administration and operation of all departments, offices, and agencies, other than a police department with an elected chief of police, in conformity with ordinances and law; no ordinance, however,

Page 2

OPINION 24-0065
Honorable Larry Alexander
Page 2

may limit the authority granted to the mayor by this provision. All administrative staff members are subordinate to the mayor.

A code enforcementofficer is defined in La. R.S. 33:4891(A)(1) as:

Any employee of a local governmental subdivision or any of its districts, agencies, or departments who is authorized to make inspections, issue violation notices or summonses, or who is otherwise authorized to enforce the ordinances of the local governmental subdivision, including animal control officers. The term “code enforcement officer” shall not include building or zoning inspectors.

Code enforcement officers enforce ordinances and may issue violation notices or summonses for administrative penalties. While a code enforcement officer is permitted to enforce the ordinances in a local governmental subdivision, the law and policy regarding speed enforcement devices contemplates that an authorized law enforcement officer operate the speed enforcement device and issue a traffic citation.

Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:45 permits local municipal authorities or local parish authorities to utilize mobile speed cameras on roadways other than interstate roadways within their territorial limits, and requires these authorities to post signs indicating the presence of the mobile speed cameras

Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:41(A) sets forth the police power of a municipality to adopt ordinances with respect to highways other than state maintained highways, and provides, in pertinent part, the following (emphasis added):

A. Except as otherwise provided by law, this Chapter shall not be deemed to prevent local municipal authorities, with respect to highways other than state maintained highways within their corporate limits, from adopting ordinances:

(2) Enforcing the provisions of this Chapter, regulations of the department and of the commissioner and local regulation adopted pursuant hereto, by means of police officers or by the use of traffic-control devices approved by the department.

(13) Creating additional regulations controlling traffic upon non-state maintained highways within their corporate limits under their general police power so long as such regulations do not modify, or conflict with, the provisions of this Chapter or regulations of the department and the commissioner adopted pursuant hereto.

Page 3

OPINION 24-0065
Honorable Larry Alexander
Page 3

Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:41(A)(2) requires that ordinances adopted by a municipality regarding highways be enforced by police officers or by the use of traffic- control devices.1 Accordingly, the code enforcement officer must also be a law enforcement officer to operate the handheld speed safety camera.

Regarding the hiring of police officers, La. R.S. 33:404 provides that the mayor has the responsibility of appointing and removing municipal employees, “other than the employees of a police department with an elected chief of police.” Louisiana Revised Statute 33:423(A) provides that the chief of police “shall make recommendations to the mayor and board of aldermen for appointment of police personnel, for the promotion of officers, to effect disciplinary action, and for dismissal of police personnel.”

The elected chief of police has the inherent authority to control or administer the day to day operations ofthe police department, including equipment and work schedules, within the confines ofthe adopted budget. Cogswell v. Town ofLogansport, 321 So.2d 774, 779 (La.App.1975). “This office has repeatedly recognized that in a Lawrason Act municipality, the elected chief of police has supervisory power and authority over police department personnel.” La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 93-386. This supervisory power of the elected chief of police would extend to a law enforcement officer serving as code enforcement officer that utilizes a speed enforcement device to enforce municipal traffic speed ordinances.

Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that the Town of Oberlin may hire a law enforcement officer to the position of code enforcement officer to enforce the speed enforcement device ordinance enacted by the Town. The code enforcement officer would be under the authority and administration of the chief of police.

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 6est regards,

LIZ MURRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:___
Amanda M. LaGroue
Assistant Attorney General

LM:AML

1 Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1(97) defines “traffic control devices” as “all signs, signals, markings, and devices, not inconsistent with this Chapter, placed or erected by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic.”