Can a Louisiana optometry board's secretary-treasurer hire assistants directly?

Plain-English summary

The Louisiana State Board of Optometry Examiners had an independent contractor agreement with its secretary-treasurer. The agreement allowed him to use assistants and pay them from his contractual compensation. Board counsel asked whether those assistants had to be employed by the board instead.

The Attorney General answered that either arrangement is permitted. La. R.S. 37:1046 gives the board permission to employ people who assist its officers, but does not make board employment mandatory. The opinion found no statute forbidding the secretary-treasurer from hiring assistants directly as the contract contemplated.

What this means for you

Optometry board members

The board may employ assistants for the secretary-treasurer under the statute. The opinion does not require it to be the direct employer when the secretary-treasurer hires assistants under the described contract.

The board's secretary-treasurer

For the arrangement described, the opinion found no statutory prohibition on directly hiring assistants to help with the office's duties.

Common questions

Q: Must assistants to the Louisiana optometry board's secretary-treasurer be board employees?
A: No. The AG read the board's hiring authority as permissive and said the secretary-treasurer may hire assistants directly.

Q: Does the board itself have power to hire assistants?
A: Yes. La. R.S. 37:1046 authorizes it to employ people needed to assist the secretary-treasurer or other officers.

Q: Did the opinion approve every term of the independent contractor agreement?
A: It answered the hiring question presented under the statute and the described agreement. It did not separately analyze the agreement's other terms.

Background and statutory framework

The secretary-treasurer is an appointed board member whose duties include keeping board records and handling money. La. R.S. 37:1046 says the board may employ people to assist its officers. The AG treated that language as granting the board an option, while finding no statutory bar to the secretary-treasurer's direct hiring of assistants.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 37:1046, concerning the secretary-treasurer and board employment of assistants.
• La. R.S. 37:1047, quoted in the opinion's footnote on the secretary-treasurer's duties.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0077

Original opinion text

STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEP.\RTt;NT OF’ JLsi’LCE
Ovl:IcE OF’ THE ArroRNEY GExERL
P.O. Box 94005
BAToN RouuE, L.
70804-9005

Liz MuRRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
June 14, 2024
OPINION 24-0077

    Mr. Mark E. Van Horn                                     81       OPTOMETRY

Counsel, Louisiana State Board of
La. R.S. 37:1046
Optometry Examiners
La. R.S. 37:1048

1 1 00 Poydras Street, Suite 21 00
The Louisiana Board of Optometry Examiners or its secretary-
New Orleans LA 701 63
treasurer may hire persons direchy to assist the secretary-
, treasurer in his duties.

Dear Mr. Van Horn:

On behalf of the Louisiana State Board of Optometry (the “Board”), you requested the opinion of this office concerning whether the independent contractor agreement awarded by the Board to its secretary-treasurer for services rendered to or on behalf of the Board violates state law. The independent contractor agreement between the Board and the secretary-treasurer permits the secretary-treasurer to utilize the assistance of any person to assist him in providing services to the Board and provides that the secretary-treasurer shall pay such person out of the funds the secretary-treasurer receives for payment of his services pursuant to the agreement.

Specifically, you ask whether the secretary-treasurer may directly employ persons to assist the secretary-treasurer with his duties or whether such persons must be directly employed by the Board. For the reasons that follow, we find that either the Board or its secretary-treasurer may hire persons directly to assist the secretary-treasurer with his duties.

Louisiana Revised Statute 37:1046(C) sets forth the duties of the Board’s secretary- treasurer1 as follows:

The secretary-treasurer, who shall be an appointed member of the board, may receive for his services a reasonable salary fixed by the board. The board may also employ such persons as may be necessary to assist the secretary-treasurer or other officers to accomplish the duties and responsibilities of this Chapter.

When a law “is clear and unambiguous and its application does not lead to absurd consequences, it shall be applied as written and no further interpretation may be made in search of legislative intent.” Cat’s Meow, Inc. v. City of New Orleans through Dept. of Fin.,

1 See also La. R.S. 37:1047, which provides:
The secretary-treasurer of the board shall keep a full record of all acts and proceedings of the board. All moneys shall be received by him and disbursed in administering the provisions of this Chapter.

Page 2

OPINION 24-0077
Mr. Mark E. Van Horn
Page 2

98-0601 720 So.2d I 186, 1 198 (La. 10/20/98); La. C.C. art. 9. We find that the language ,

of La. R.S. 37: 1 046(0) is clear and unambiguous. The Board is given permissive authority to hire additional persons to assist the secretary-treasurer. Thus, the Board may, but is not required to, hire such persons directly. Furthermore, there is no prohibition in statute against the secretary-treasurer hiring persons directly to assist him in his duties as provided for in the contract. Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that either the Board or its secretary-treasurer may hire persons directly to assist the secretary-treasurer in his duties.

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,

LIZ MURRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:(1Afr
Amanda M. LaGroue
Assistant Attorney General
LM:AML