Can Louisiana's state public defender reimburse oversight board members for travel and meetings?

Plain-English summary

Louisiana's State Public Defender asked whether his office could pay travel and meeting expenses for members of the Public Defender Oversight Board. The Attorney General concluded that the office lacked specific statutory authority to do so.

The prior Public Defender Board's members could receive travel reimbursement and per diems under La. R.S. 15:151(B), but Act 22 of the 2024 Second Extraordinary Session repealed that provision when it restructured the public defense system. The AG searched the new governing law and found no replacement authority for either the state office to pay or the new oversight board members to receive those payments. The opinion treated specific legislative authorization as necessary for this type of board expense.

What this means for you

State public defender staff

Under the law examined in the opinion, the office lacks authority to reimburse oversight board members for travel and meeting expenses. The former reimbursement provision no longer supplied authority after its repeal.

Oversight board members

The opinion found no statutory basis for per diem or travel reimbursement for the new board's meetings. It did not identify another payment source or exception.

Common questions

Q: May the state public defender pay oversight board members' travel costs?
A: The AG said no, because the office lacked specific statutory authority after the old reimbursement provision was repealed.

Q: Did the old defender board have a reimbursement rule?
A: Yes. The opinion says former La. R.S. 15:151(B) covered travel, per diems, and meeting expenses for the prior board, but Act 22 repealed it.

Q: Does the new board's general oversight power include reimbursement authority?
A: The opinion found no such authority in the statutes governing the new office and board.

Background and statutory framework

Act 22 transferred public defense responsibilities to the Office of the State Public Defender and created an oversight board. The opinion compared the new provisions with the repealed La. R.S. 15:151 and found no express power for the office to reimburse board members for meetings or travel.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 15:151(B), the repealed prior reimbursement provision.
• La. R.S. 15:146, concerning the new oversight board.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0117

Original opinion text

STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF THE ArroRNE GENERAL
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE, LA
70804-9005

Liz MuRRILL
ATTORNEY GENEnL

Juiy 24, 2025
OPINION 24-0117

The Honorable Rémy V. Stains
90-A-i - PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS
State Public Defender La RS 15141 etseq La RS 364
Office of the State Public Defender
La. R.S 33:801.1
301 Main Street, Suite 700
The Offce of the State Public Defender lacks the specific
Baton Rouge LA 70825
, statuto’j authority to reimburse Louisiana Public Defender Oversight Board members for their travel and/or meeting expenses.

Dear Mr. Stains:

You have requested an opinion from this office concerning the ability of the Office of the State Public Defender (“OSPD”) to reimburse Louisiana Public Defender Oversight Board members for travel and meeting expenses.

Question: May the Office of the State Public Defender reimburse members of the Louisiana Public Defender Oversight Board for travel and meeting expenses?

Conclusion: No. The Office ofthe State Public Defender lacks the specific statutory authority to reimburse Louisiana Publk Defender Oversight Board members for their travel andlor meeting expenses.

During the 2024 Second Extraordinary Session, the Louisiana Public Defender Act of 2007 was restructured by transferring authority from the Louisiana Public Defender Board (‘LPDB”) to the Office of the State Public Defender, a state agency under the Office of the Governor, to ensure uniformity, accountability, and quality in public defender services across the State of Louisiana. Indigent Defender Representation, 2024 La. Sess. Law Serv. 2nd Ex. Sess. Act 22 (S.B. 8) (WEST).

Additionally, Act 22 created and established the Louisiana Public Defender Oversight Board (‘LPDOB”) to provide supervision and oversight to the OSPD and to approve contracts in an amount of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or more. La. R.S. 15:146.

Page 2

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Hon. Rémy V. Starns
Opinion 24-0117
Page 2

HistoricaIy, LPDB members received travel reimbursements and per diems under La. R.S. 15:151(B), which also covered meeting expenses. However, La. R.S. 15:151 was repealed through Act 22.

Act 22 established that the LPDOB would also operate as an independent agency wfthin the Office of the Governor and have all powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities in accordancewith La. R.S. 36:801.1. La. R.S. 36:4(B)(21). Through La. R.S. 36:801.1(B), which effectively covers the transition and retention of powers of the board, LPDOB shall “continue to exercise all powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities provided or authorized for each by the constitution or laws which are in the nature of policymaking, rulemaking, licensing, regulation, enforcement, or adjudication and also shall continue to exercise all advisory powers, duties, and functions provided by law, and each agency shall continue to administer and implement all programs provided or authorized for each bylaw. (Emphasis added.)

Because the legislature repealed the previous statutory authority covering per diems for board members, our office has examined the guiding legislation for the OSPD and the LPDOB contained within La. R.S. 15:141 et seq. and have found that neither the OSPD nor the LPDOB currently possesses the authority to award or receive such rembursements for meetings and/or travel. We note that, based on our research of similar state agencies or boards, virtually all instances of per diems or travel reimbursements are done through specific statutory authority. We must therefore conclude that it appears that the OSPD does not have the requisite authority to award per diems to LPDOB members for attending meetings nor do LPDOB members have the requisite authority to receive said per diems. Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that the Office of the State Public Defender lacks the specific statutory authority to reimburse LPDOB members for their travel and/or meeting expenses.

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

With best regards,
LIZ MURRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:

Ch&sea Zacary
Assistant Attorney General
LM/CZ