Can St. Bernard Parish merge its protected port district into parish government by popular vote?

Plain-English summary

St. Bernard Parish asked whether its government could consolidate the St. Bernard Port, Harbor and Terminal District into the parish by a majority vote of the electorate. The Louisiana Attorney General concluded it could not. The port is a deep-water port district whose organization predates January 1, 1974, and falls within a specific constitutional protection for such districts.

The parish relied on Louisiana Constitution article VI, section 16(A), which generally permits a local government to merge certain districts within its borders after voter approval. The port invoked article VI, section 43(2), which says the Legislature may consolidate or abolish protected deep-water port districts only by a law approved by two-thirds of the elected members of each house. The AG applied the port-specific protection and rejected a unilateral parish merger through the general voter procedure.

The office noted ongoing litigation between the parish and port but said the consolidation issue was not part of it. It expressly declined a separate question about the parish's executive session.

What this means for you

St. Bernard Parish officials and voters

The opinion says a parishwide majority vote cannot, by itself, merge this protected port district into parish government. It does not hold that a local vote substitutes for the Legislature's two-thirds approval route in article VI, section 43(2).

Port district commissioners

The opinion treats the district's existing powers, organization, and territory as protected by the specific deep-water port provision. It follows the office's earlier opinion on a similar proposed St. Bernard consolidation.

Common questions

Q: Can St. Bernard Parish vote to absorb its port district?
A: The AG said no to a merger accomplished by majority vote under the general local merger provision, because the port is protected by the constitution's special deep-water port rule.

Q: What would the constitutional port provision require for consolidation?
A: The provision quoted in the opinion calls for a law enacted by favorable votes of two-thirds of the elected members of each house of the Legislature.

Q: Why does the port receive special protection?
A: The opinion says the district was organized before January 1, 1974, and is a deep-water port district of the kind article VI, section 43 preserves.

Q: Did the AG decide whether the parish's executive session was lawful?
A: No. The office expressly declined that separate question.

Background and statutory framework

Article VI, section 16(A) provides a general voter approved process for a local government to merge some districts within its boundaries. Article VI, section 43(2) specifically protects pre-1974 deep-water port commissions and districts and reserves major structural changes to a supermajority legislative act. The AG read the St. Bernard port as protected by the latter provision, also citing a prior office opinion on the same consolidation issue.

Citations and references

• La. Const. art. VI, § 16(A), the general district merger provision.
• La. Const. art. VI, § 43(2), protection for pre-1974 deep-water port districts.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0122

Original opinion text

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

ATTORNEY GENERAL

February 28, 2025
OPINION 24-0122

1 5-A Constitutional Law
Honorable Louis Pomes
. 84 Parishes
Parish President
—

901 Port Commissions
St. Bernard Parish
—

  8201 West Judge Perez Drive                                        La. Const. Art. VI § 16 and 43          La. R.S. 34:1701

Chalmette LA 70043
The St. Bernard Port, Harbor and Terminal District, a deep-
water district organized and constituted prior to January 1, 1974, whose continuing existence, powers, functions, M r Drew M Heaphy
. . .. structure, organization, and territorialjurisdiction falls within the protection of La. Const. art. VI, § 43 cannot be
Executve Director
unilaterally merged and consolidated into the parish
St. Bernard Port, Harbor and Terminal District government by majority vote ot the electorate.
P.O. Box 1331
Chalmette, LA 70044-1 331

Dear Parish President Pomes and Drector Heaphy

This office has received your requests for an Attorney General’s opinion concerning the ability of the St. Bernard Parish Government (Parish Government) to consolidate the St.
Bernard Parish Port, Harbor and Terminal District (the Port) into the Parish Government by majority vote of the electorate. We note, based on the opinion request submitted by Mr. Heaphy, that there is ongoing litigation involving the Port and the Parish Government.
While this office would normally not issue an advisory opinion in situations where litigation s pending or likely, we have chosen to issue an opinion in this case because the issue of consolidation is not a subject of the litigation and we have opined on this issue before.

Question: Can the Parish Government consolidate the Port into itself by majority vote of the electorate?’

Conclusion: It is the opinion of this office that the Parish Government cannot consolidate the Port into itself by majority vote of the electorate.

1 We have consolidated the three questions asked by the Parish President into one question. The specific questions asked by the Parish President are: (1 ) Is the Port a “deep-water port commission” or “deep-water part, harbor, and terminal district” such that La. Const. art. Vi, § 43 is applicable?; (2) if so, do the provisions of La. Const. art. VI, § 16 still enable a local governmental subdivision such as the Parish Government to effect a consolidation of the Port into the Parish Government by a majority vote of the electorate?; and (3) If not, would the provisions of La. Const. art. VI, § 16 enable a local governmental subdivision such as the Parsh Government to effect a consolidation of the Port into the Parish Government by a majority vote of the electorate? We decline to answer the question asked by Director Heaphy concerning the propriety of the executive session conducted by the Parish Government.

Page 2

OPINION 24-0122
Honorable Louis Pomes and Director Drew Heaphy
Page 2

The Parish Government and the Port each rely on different constitutional provisions to support their positions. The Parish Government relies on La. Const. art. VI, § 16(A), which provides:

A local governmental subdivision may consolidate and merge into itself any special district or local public agency, except a school district, situated and having jurisdiction entirely within the boundaries of the local governmental subdivision. Upon the consolidation and merger, the local governmental subdivision shall succeed to and be vested with all of the rights, revenues, resources, jurisdiction, authority, and powers of the special district or local public agency. A consolidation and merger shall become effective only if approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon in the local governmental subdivision as a whole and by a majority ofthe electors voting thereon in the affected special district. A local public agency shall be consolidated and merged only if approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon in an election held for that purpose in the local governmental subdivision in which the agency is located.

On the other hand, the Port relies on La. Const. art. VI, § 43(2), which states:

All deep-water port commissions and all deep-water port, harbor, and terminal districts as organized and constituted on January 1 I 974, including ,

their powers and functions, structure and organization, and territorial jurisdiction, are ratified and confirmed and shall continue to exist, except that

(2) Only by law enacted by the favorable vote of two-thirds of the elected members of each house, may the legislature consolidate or abolish any such commission or district or diminish, reduce, or withdraw from any such commission or district any of its powers and functions and affect the structure and organization, distribution, and redistribution ofthe powers and functions of any such commission or district, including additions to or reductions of its territorial jurisdiction.

The Port was created as a public corporation and political subdivision of the State of Louisiana pursuant to the authority of Article XIV, § 31 of the I 921 Constitution and has territorial limitations with the Parish of St. Bernard. See La. R.S. 34:1 701 In addition, the .

Supreme Court has recognized that it is a deep-water port. See St. Bernard Port, Harbor Terminal District v. Violet Dock Port, Inc., LLC, 2017-0434 (La. 1/30/18), 239 So.3d 243, 246 n.2. Therefore, the Port is subject to the provisions of La. Const. art. VI,
§ 43(2).
We note that this is not the first time that the Parish Government has attempted to consolidate and merge the Port into itself. In 1998, John F. Rowley, then the District Attorney for the 34th Judicial District, sent this office an opinion request on the same

Page 3

OPINION 24-0122
Honorable Louis Pomes and Director Drew Heaphy
Page 3

issue. In that opinion request, the Parish Government also relied on La. Const. art. VI, § 16(A) as authority for its attempt to merge and consolidate the Port. However, this office determined that the Port was a deep-water port, harbor, and terminal district organized and constituted prior to January 1 I 974, whose continuing existence, powers, functions, ,

structure, organization, and territorial jurisdiction fall within the protection of La. Const. art. VI, § 43. See La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 98-160 (also numbered 178). Moreover, this office also relied on Lake Charles Harbor & Terminal District v. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, 613 So.2d 1031, 1033 (La. App. 3 Cir. 1993) for the proposition that the State, through the legislature, had created and incorporated the Port to exercise the State’s superior police powers over the navigable waterways and their banks and shores and other such State public property statutorily entrusted to it.

Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that the Parish Government cannot merge and consolidate the Port into itself by majority vote of the electorate. We trust that this adequately responds to your request and the issues that 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: tvC1/t-i42c& tti44Y
Chimène St. Amant
Assistant Attorney General

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