Can a Louisiana parish council member also work for the district attorney's office in the same parish?

Plain-English summary

Becky Chustz, First Assistant District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District, asked the Louisiana AG whether a member of the Iberville Parish Council could simultaneously work for the District Attorney's office. The AG said the answer depends on the specific DA position, but for the full-time position described, the combination is barred if the DA position is an appointive office or if Iberville Parish funds its salary.

The analysis runs through three layers of Louisiana's Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law (La. R.S. 42:61 et seq.):

Layer 1: Classifying each role.

• A member of the Iberville Parish Council holds an "elective office" under La. R.S. 42:62(1) because it is established by the home rule charter and filled by vote of citizens.
• DA office positions split into two categories. Under La. R.S. 16:6 (which authorizes DA expense allowances for "stenographers, clerks and secretaries, and salaries of special officers, investigators and other employees"), the AG classifies stenographer, clerk, secretary, special officer, and investigator positions as "appointive offices" under La. R.S. 42:62(2). All other DA employees hold positions of "employment" under La. R.S. 42:62(3).

Layer 2: Different political subdivisions. The Parish of Iberville and the District Attorney's office are separate political subdivisions for dual-officeholding purposes.

Layer 3: Applying the bars.

La. R.S. 42:63(D) prohibits a person holding an elective office in a political subdivision from simultaneously holding "another elective office or full-time appointive office in the government of this state or in the government of a political subdivision thereof." So a council member cannot hold a full-time appointive position in the DA's office (the stenographer, clerk, secretary, special officer, or investigator categories under La. R.S. 16:6).

For non-appointive DA positions, La. R.S. 42:63(D) does not bar employment in a separate political subdivision on the facts analyzed here. But La. R.S. 42:64(A)(6) provides an incompatible-offices rule when funds received by one office or employment are deposited with or turned over to the other. The opinion concludes that a DA employee whose salary Iberville Parish funds cannot also serve on its council.

The opinion concludes that the council member cannot hold the DA position if it is an appointive office or if Iberville Parish funds its salary. It does not identify the particular DA position at issue.

The AG limited the opinion to the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law and noted that the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics (La. R.S. 42:1111 et seq.) and the state civil service laws apply separately and may impose additional restrictions.

What this means for you

If you are a parish council member considering DA employment. Identify the DA position and whether Iberville Parish funds its salary. The opinion says a council member cannot hold an appointive DA office or a DA position whose salary Iberville Parish funds. It does not resolve the separate civil service or Ethics Code questions.

If you are a district attorney evaluating a candidate who serves on the Iberville Parish Council. The requester described a full-time DA position without identifying it. Determine whether the position falls within the opinion's appointive-office categories and whether Iberville Parish funds its salary before applying the opinion's conclusion.

If you are on the Iberville Parish Council and fund DA positions. The opinion says a council member's DA position is incompatible with the council seat if Iberville Parish funds that employee's salary. The source of that salary therefore matters to the dual-officeholding analysis.

If you hold both positions and learn that Iberville Parish funds your DA salary. This is the combination the opinion says the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law prohibits. Seek advice on how to resolve your particular situation; the opinion does not prescribe a remedy.

If you advise a parish on DA expense appropriations. The opinion quotes La. R.S. 16:6, which authorizes parish payment of specified DA expenses, including salaries. For this council-member question, determine whether the parish funds the particular DA salary.

Common questions

Q: What positions in the DA's office are "appointive offices" under this opinion?
A: The opinion lists stenographer, clerk, secretary, special officer, and investigator as appointive offices. It calls other DA positions "employment" but does not identify the particular position the requester had in mind.

Q: Does the funding bar trigger only when the parish council is the sole funder?
A: The opinion says the positions are incompatible if Iberville Parish funds the DA employee's salary. It does not analyze a partly funded salary or set a percentage threshold.

Q: I'm a part-time clerk for the DA. Does this opinion bar my council seat?
A: The requester described a full-time position, and the opinion treats a DA clerk as an appointive office. It does not decide a part-time clerk's case. It separately says the salary-funding rule applies whether the DA position is an appointive office or employment.

Q: Can I hold a council seat plus an Assistant DA position (a lawyer in the DA's office)?
A: The opinion does not classify an Assistant DA position. It says the requester did not identify the full-time DA position, so its categories and salary-funding rule would need to be applied to the actual position. Ethics questions are outside its scope.

Q: Does this apply if I'm a parish council member in one parish and the DA's office is in a different parish?
A: The opinion addresses an Iberville Parish Council member and a position in the 18th Judicial District Attorney's office. It does not decide a different-parish combination.

Background and statutory framework

Constitutional provisions. The opinion cites La. Const. art. VI, § 5 in discussing Iberville Parish's home rule charter and La. Const. art. V, § 26 for the district attorney's authority.

District attorney authority and expense allowances. La. R.S. 16:1 et seq. governs district attorneys. La. R.S. 16:6 authorizes parish police juries (parish governing authorities) to pay from their general fund expense allowances for DA stenographers, clerks, secretaries, special officers, investigators, and other employees, plus stationery, forms, telephones, transportation, travel, postage, hotel, and other expenses "incurred in the discharge of their official duties."

Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law. La. R.S. 42:61 et seq. La. R.S. 42:62 contains the controlling definitions: elective office (subd. 1), appointive office (subd. 2), employment (subd. 3), full time (subd. 4), political subdivision (subd. 9). La. R.S. 42:63(D) bars an elective-office holder from also holding another elective office or a full-time appointive office. La. R.S. 42:64(A)(6) adds an incompatible-offices bar when funds received by one office are deposited or turned over to the other.

Iberville Parish structure. Iberville Parish operates under a home rule charter with a president-council form of government, established under La. Const. art. VI, § 5.

Outside the opinion's scope. The opinion does not address possible application of state civil service laws or the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics (La. R.S. 42:1111 et seq.). It directs Ethics Code questions to the Louisiana State Board of Ethics.

Liz Murrill is the Attorney General of Louisiana. Madeline S. Carbonette signed the opinion as Assistant Attorney General.

Citations and references

Constitutional provisions:

• La. Const. art. V, § 26 (district attorney offices)

Statutes:

• La. R.S. 16:1 et seq. (district attorneys)
• La. R.S. 16:6 (parish expense allowance for DA employees)
• La. R.S. 42:61 et seq. (Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law)
• La. R.S. 42:62(1) (elective office)
• La. R.S. 42:62(2) (appointive office)
• La. R.S. 42:62(3) (employment)
• La. R.S. 42:62(4) (full time)
• La. R.S. 42:63(D) (bar on elective + appointive combinations)
• La. R.S. 42:64(A)(6) (incompatible-offices bar based on funding stream)
• La. R.S. 42:1111 et seq. (Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics, noted outside scope)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0130

Original opinion text

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

LIZ MURRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

February 27, 2025

OPINION 24-0130

Ms. Becky Chustz
First Assistant District Attorney
18th Judicial District
P.O. Box 880
Plaquemine, Louisiana 70765

78 Dual Officeholding
La. R.S. 42:61, et seq.
La. R.S. 16:1, et seq.
La. Const. art. 5, § 26

The provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law prohibit a member of the Iberville Parish Council from serving as an employee of the District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District if the position is an appointive office or is funded by the Iberville Parish Council.

Dear Ms. Chustz:

Our office received your request for an opinion regarding whether a member of the Iberville Parish Council may serve as an employee of the District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District.

Question: Whether a member of the Iberville Parish Council may serve as an employee of the District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District.

Conclusion: The provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law prohibit a member of the Iberville Parish Council from serving as an employee of the District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District if the position is an appointive office or is funded by the Iberville Parish Council.

The provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law, found at La. R.S. 42:61, et seq., govern questions concerning the ability to hold two or more public offices and/or positions simultaneously. Classifying the correct nature of the positions held is essential for the purposes of applying the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.

Iberville Parish is a local governmental subdivision operating under a home rule charter under the authority of La. Const. art. VI, § 5.¹ The charter provides for a president-council form of government.² A member of the Council holds an "elective office" for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.³

1 Section 1-01, Iberville Parish Home Rule Charter.

2 Section 1-02, Iberville Parish Home Rule Charter.

3 “Elective office” means any position which is established or authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof, which is not a political party office, and which is filled by vote of the citizens for this state or of a political subdivision thereof. La. R.S. 42:62(1).

The District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District, who is an elected official, is authorized to hire employees as necessary.⁴ While you stated the position is full time, you did not identify the position.⁵ The positions of stenographer, clerk, secretary, special officer and investigator are classified as "appointive offices" for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.⁶ All other employees hold positions of "employment" for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.⁷

The Parish of Iberville and the District Attorney are considered separate political subdivisions of the state for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.

OPINION 24-0130
Ms. Becky Chustz
Page 2

The most relevant provision of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law is La. R.S. 42:63(D), which provides in pertinent part:

No person holding an elective office in a political subdivision of this state shall at the same time hold another elective office or full-time appointive office in the government of this state or in the government of a political subdivision thereof. No such person shall hold at the same time employment in the government of this state, or in the same political subdivision in which he holds an elective office.

Louisiana Revised Statute 42:63(D) prohibits holding an elective office and a full-time appointive office. The Council member is prohibited from holding a position classified as an appointive position.

You have concerns that the positions may be incompatible offices because the Parish of Iberville funds certain expenses of the District Attorney's Office in accordance with the provisions of La. R.S. 16:6.⁸ If the salary of an employee, whether holding an appointive

4 La. Const. art. V, § 26 and La. R.S. 16:6.

5 “Full time” means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment and which is at least seven hours per day of work and at least thirty-five hours per week of work. La. R.S. 42:62(4).

6 “Appointive office” means any office in any branch of government or other position on an agency board, or commission, or any executive office of any agency, board, commission or department which is specifically established or specifically authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof and which is filled by appointment or election by an elected or appointed public official or by a governmental body composed of such officials of this state or of a political subdivision thereof. La. R.S. 42:62(2).

7 “Employment” means any job compensated on a salary or per diem basis, other than an elective or appointive office, in which a person is an employee of the state government or of a political subdivision. La. R.S. 42:62(3).

8 The district attorneys of this state, the parish of Orleans excepted, shall be entitled to an expense allowance for salaries of stenographers, clerks and secretaries, and salaries of special officers, investigators and other employees and an expense allowance for stationary forms, telephones, transportation, travel, postage, hotel and other expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties. The police juries of the various parishes of the state of Louisiana are hereby authorized to pay from their general fund any of the items of expense, as provided for herein, incurred by the several district attorneys of this state when acting in their official capacities. La. R.S. 16:6.

OPINION 24-0130
Ms. Becky Chustz
Page 3

office or employment, is funded by Iberville Parish, the positions would also be incompatible offices pursuant to La. R.S. 42:64(A)(6).⁹

9 In addition to the prohibitions otherwise provided in this Part, no other offices or employments shall be held by the same person in combination if any of the following conditions are found to pertain and these prohibitions shall exist whether or not the person affected by the prohibition exercises power in conjunction with other officers: (6) Funds received by one office or employment are deposited with or turned over to the other office or position. La. R.S. 42:64(A)(6).

Based on the applicable provisions of law, and the information you have provided, it is the opinion of this office that the provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law prohibit a member of the Iberville Parish Council from serving as an employee of the District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District if the position is an appointive office or is funded by the Iberville Parish Council.

Please note that our expressed opinion relative to state law is limited to an examination of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment provisions. It does not address the potential applicability of the State of Louisiana civil service laws, rules and regulations. Further, it does not address the potential applicability of the provisions of the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics, La. R.S. 42:1111, et seq. Advisory rulings addressing questions under the Ethics Code are within the jurisdiction of the Louisiana State Board of Ethics. The Board may be contacted at the following address: P.O. Box 4368, Baton Rouge, LA 70821, phone: 225-219-5600.

We hope that this opinion adequately addresses 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:
Madeline S. Carbonette
Assistant Attorney General

LM: MSC