Can Florien's elected police chief also work full time as a Sabine Parish deputy sheriff?

Plain-English summary

Florien's mayor asked whether the village's elected chief of police could also be a full-time deputy sheriff in Sabine Parish. The attorney general said no under Louisiana's Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.

The opinion classified Florien's police chief as an elective office. It classified the full-time deputy sheriff position as a full-time appointive office, noting that state law establishes the position and the sheriff may hire deputies. La. R.S. 42:63(D) bars a person holding elective office in a political subdivision from simultaneously holding a full-time appointive office in the state or another political subdivision. The office applied that prohibition even though Florien and the Sabine Parish Sheriff were separate political subdivisions.

The opinion was limited to dual-officeholding law. It expressly left any ethics-code question to the Louisiana State Board of Ethics.

What this means for you

Elected police chiefs

The opinion said Florien's elected chief could not also serve as a full-time Sabine Parish deputy sheriff. The reason was the statutory pairing of an elective office with a full-time appointive office, as the opinion classified these two positions.

Sheriff's offices

The opinion treated a full-time deputy sheriff as an appointive officer for this statute, rather than merely as an employee. It identified the sheriff's authority to hire deputies and the state law establishing the position as part of that classification.

Village officials and candidates

The opinion said the separate legal identity of Florien and the sheriff did not change the result. Its answer addressed the proposed full-time deputy role; it did not decide a different schedule or a different sheriff's position.

Common questions

Q: Could Florien's elected police chief also be a full-time Sabine Parish deputy?
A: No. The attorney general said the chief's elected office and the deputy's full-time appointive office could not be held together under La. R.S. 42:63(D).

Q: Would it matter that the village and sheriff are separate political subdivisions?
A: No for this combination. The opinion identified them as separate but applied the statute's ban on pairing elective office with a full-time appointive office in another subdivision.

Q: Why did the attorney general call the deputy position an appointive office?
A: State law specifically establishes the deputy-sheriff position, and the elected sheriff may hire deputies. The opinion classified a full-time deputy as an appointive officer under the dual-officeholding definitions.

Q: Did the opinion decide whether an ethics rule also applies?
A: No. The attorney general limited the answer to dual-officeholding law and said ethics-code advisory rulings belong to the State Board of Ethics.

Background and statutory framework

Florien has a mayor-board of aldermen government under the Lawrason Act. Its police chief is elected under La. R.S. 33:381(B). The opinion treated that position as elective office. The Sabine Parish Sheriff may hire deputies, and La. R.S. 13:5537 establishes the deputy position. The office treated a full-time deputy as holding a full-time appointive office.

La. R.S. 42:63(D) prohibited the simultaneous holding of an elective office in a political subdivision and a full-time appointive office in state or political-subdivision government. Those classifications resolved the question in the opinion. The attorney general declined to examine the separate Code of Governmental Ethics.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 42:63(D) (dual-officeholding prohibition)
• La. R.S. 33:381(B) (elected village police chief)
• La. R.S. 13:5537 (deputy-sheriff position)
• La. R.S. 42:62(2) (appointive-office definition)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0136

Original opinion text

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

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

Liz MURRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
November 1 3, 2024
OPINION 24-0136

The Honorable Eddie Jones, Jr.
78 Dual Officeholding
Mayor Village of Florien La. R.S. 42:61 et seq. La. Const. art. 5, § 27
P.O. Box 68 La. C.C.P. Art. 331 La. R.S. 33:321, et seq.
La. R.S. 13.5537
Florien, LA 71429
The provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law
r r ,i I prohibit the Chief of Police of the Village of Florien from serving as
uear iviayor jones. .

full time Sabine Parish Sheriff Deputy Sheriff.

Our office received your request for an opinion regarding whether the Chief of Police of the Village of Florien may serve as a full-time Sabine Parish Deputy Sheriff.

Question: Whether the Chief of Police of the Village of Florien may serve as a full- time Sabine Parish Deputy Sheriff.

Conclusion: The provisions of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law prohibit the Chief of Police Village of Florien from serving as a full-time Sabine Parish Deputy Sheriff.

Pursuant to La. Const. art. X, § 22, the legislature has enacted laws regulating dual employment and defining, regulating, and prohibiting dual office holding in state and local government. 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.

The Village of Florien is governed by the Lawrason Act, La. R.S. 33:321 et seq. The
,

Village has adopted a mayor-board of aldermen form of government, and the Village’s Chief of Police is elected in accordance with the provisions of La. R.S. 33:381(B). The Chief of Police holds an “elective office” for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.1

1
“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).

Page 2

OPINION 24-0136
Mayor Eddie Jones, Jr.
Page 2

The Sabine Parish Sheriff, who is an elected public official, is authorized to hire deputies as necessary.2 The position of Deputy Sheriff is specifically established by the laws of the state.3 A full-time Deputy Sheriff holds a “full time” “appointive office” for purposes ofthe Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.4

The Village of Florien and the Sabine Parish Sheriff are separate political subdivisions for the purposes of the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law.5

The most applicable 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.

La. R.S. 42:63(D) prohibits the Chief of Police of the Village of Florien from serving as a full-time Sabine Parish Deputy Sheriff.

Please note that our expressed opinion is limited to an examination of the state laws relating to Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment. Further, it does not address the potential applicability of the provisions of the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics, La. R.S. 42:1 1 1 1 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.

2 La. Const. art. V, § 27 and La. COP. Art. 331.
3 La. R.S. 13:5537.
4 “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). “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). “Political subdivision” means a parish, municipality, and any other unit of local government, including a school board and a special district, authorized by law to perform governmental functions. In addition for the purposes of this Part, mayor’s courts, justice of peace courts, district attorneys, sheriffs, clerks of court, coroners, tax assessors, registrars of voters, and all other elected parochial officials shall be separate political subdivisions. La. R.S. 42:62(9).

Page 3

OPINION 24-0136
Mayor Eddie Jones, Jr.
Page 3

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