Are the insurance certificates contractors submit to Louisiana's licensing board public records anyone can request?

Plain-English summary

The Executive Director of Louisiana's State Licensing Board for Contractors asked whether certificates of general liability and workers' compensation insurance, submitted by contractors as a condition of licensure, count as public records. The AG said yes.

Louisiana's Contractors Licensing Law, La. R.S. 37:2156.1, requires residential, home improvement, and mold remediation license applicants and licensees to submit proof of both types of insurance coverage to the Board. The Public Records Law, La. R.S. 44:1(A)(2)(a), defines a public record broadly to include essentially any document used, prepared, or retained by a public body in the conduct of business under state authority. Because the insurance certificates are submitted to and retained by the Board specifically to verify a licensing requirement created by state law, they fall within that definition.

The opinion also checked for exemptions and found none that apply. It specifically contrasts insurance certificates with financial statements submitted to the same Board, which La. R.S. 37:2156.1(C)(1) expressly makes confidential. No similar confidentiality provision covers insurance certificates, and La. R.S. 44:4.1 (the Public Records Law's general exemptions list) does not exempt them either. Since nothing shields them, they stay public.

What this means for you

Contractors and license applicants. The insurance certificates you submit to the Licensing Board for Contractors are not private. Anyone can request them under the Public Records Law, unlike the financial statements you may also submit, which the statute keeps confidential.

State Licensing Board for Contractors staff. When a public records request comes in for a contractor's insurance certificate, this opinion supports releasing it. Financial statements submitted under the same statute are a different category and remain confidential under La. R.S. 37:2156.1(C)(1); do not conflate the two document types.

Public records requesters, journalists, and researchers. If you are investigating whether a contractor carries required insurance, this opinion confirms that the certificate itself is fair game to request directly from the Board rather than needing to go through the contractor.

Common questions

Q: Are a contractor's financial statements filed with the Board also public?
A: No. The opinion specifically notes that financial statements are explicitly made confidential by La. R.S. 37:2156.1(C)(1), unlike insurance certificates, which carry no such exemption.

Q: Does this apply to all contractor license classifications, or just some?
A: The insurance certificate requirement in La. R.S. 37:2156.1 applies to residential, home improvement, and mold remediation applicants and licensees specifically. The opinion's public-records analysis is limited to those certificates.

Q: What law would a requester cite to get one of these certificates from the Board?
A: Louisiana's Public Records Law, La. R.S. 44:1 et seq., which defines what counts as a public record and establishes the general right to inspect and copy such records, subject to specific statutory exemptions listed in provisions like La. R.S. 44:4.1.

Background and statutory framework

The insurance certificate requirement. La. R.S. 37:2156.1 requires certain contractor license applicants and licensees, specifically residential, home improvement, and mold remediation categories, to submit certificates of general liability and workers' compensation insurance to the State Licensing Board for Contractors.

The Public Records Law's broad definition. La. R.S. 44:1(A)(2)(a) defines "public records" to include books, records, writings, and other documentary materials, in any physical or electronic form, that have been used, prepared, possessed, or retained for use in conducting business under the authority of Louisiana's constitution or laws.

Why insurance certificates fit that definition. The certificates are submitted to and retained by the Board specifically to verify statutory licensure requirements, which the opinion treats as squarely within the "used... for use in the conduct... of any business... conducted... under the authority of the... laws of this state" language of La. R.S. 44:1(A)(2)(a).

The financial-statement contrast. La. R.S. 37:2156.1(C)(1) explicitly makes financial statements submitted to the Board confidential, a specific carve-out that does not extend to insurance certificates. The absence of a similar exemption for insurance certificates, and the absence of any covering exemption under La. R.S. 44:4.1, is what keeps them public.

Liz Murrill is the Attorney General of Louisiana. Amanda M. LaGroue signed the opinion as Assistant Attorney General.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- La. R.S. 37:2150 et seq. (Contractors Licensing Law generally)
- La. R.S. 37:2156.1 (insurance certificate requirement; financial statement confidentiality carve-out)
- La. R.S. 44:1 (Public Records Law definition of "public record")
- La. R.S. 44:4.1 (Public Records Law general exemptions)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/24-0152

Original opinion text

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

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

LIZ MURRILL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

March 20, 2025

OPINION 24-0152

12-A CONTRACTORS
La. R.S. 37:2150 et seq., La. R.S. 44:1 et seq., La. R.S. 37:2156.1, La. R.S. 44:4.1

Mr. Brad Hassert
Executive Director
State Licensing Board for Contractors
600 North Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Certificates of general liability and workers compensation insurance submitted to the State Licensing Board for Contractors as required by La. R.S. 37:2156.1 are considered a public record under Louisiana's Public Records Law.

Dear Mr. Hassert:

You have asked for an opinion addressing whether certificates of general liability and workers' compensation insurance, as required by La. R.S. 37:2150, et seq., for certain contractor license classifications, are considered a public record?

Question: Are certificates of general liability and workers' compensation insurance submitted to the State Licensing Board for Contractors ("the Board") as required by La. R.S. 37:2156.1 considered a public record under Louisiana's Public Records Law?

Conclusion: Certificates of general liability and workers' compensation insurance submitted to the Board as required by La. R.S. 37:2156.1 are considered a public record under Louisiana's Public Records Law.

Pursuant to La. R.S. 37:2156.1, a certificate of both general liability and workers' compensation insurance coverage is required to be submitted to the Board for all residential, home improvement, and mold remediation applicants or licensees. Pursuant to La. R.S. 44:1(A)(2)(a), public records encompass, "except as otherwise provided in [the Public Records Law, La. R.S. 44:1, et seq.] or the Constitution of Louisiana," the following:

All books, records, writings, accounts, letters and letter books, maps, drawings, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, memoranda, and papers, and all copies, duplicates, photographs, including microfilm, or other reproductions thereof, or any other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including information contained in electronic data processing equipment, having been used, being in use, or prepared, possessed, or retained for use in the conduct, transaction, or performance of any business, transaction, work, duty, or function which was conducted, transacted, or performed by or under the authority of the constitution or laws of this state, or by or under the authority of any ordinance, regulation, mandate, or order of any public body or concerning the receipt or payment of any money received or paid by or under the authority of the constitution or the laws of this state.

This definition expressly includes "documentary materials... having been used, being in use, or prepared, possessed, or retained for use in the conduct, transaction, or performance of any business, transaction, work, duty, or function which was conducted, transacted, or performed by or under the authority of the constitution or laws of this state...". Certificates of insurance provided to the Board for licensure fall within this definition, as they are materials used, submitted, and retained by the Board for the purpose of conducting public business under the authority of La. R.S. 37:2156.1. Specifically, it is required for the issuance of a contractor's license and serves as proof that the applicant meets the state's legal and financial responsibility requirements.

No exemption under La. R.S. 44:4.1 or elsewhere appears to categorically exclude from disclosure insurance information submitted for contractor licensure. Unlike financial statements, which are explicitly deemed confidential under La. R.S. 37:2156.1(C)(1), insurance certificates are not identified as exempt. Accordingly, such records should be considered public and subject to disclosure upon request.

Considering the foregoing, it is the opinion of this office that certificates of general liability and workers' compensation insurance submitted to the Board as required by La. R.S. 37:2156.1 are considered a public record under Louisiana's Public Records Law.

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:
Amanda M. LaGroue
Assistant Attorney General

LM:AML