Could a full-time Louisiana municipal police officer work part time for another law enforcement agency?

Plain-English summary

The Ville Platte police chief asked about a municipal police officer with another law enforcement job. The 1998 attorney general opinion said full-time city police employment could be combined with part-time employment at a second law enforcement agency under the dual employment law it examined. It drew the line at two full-time public positions.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1998. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Police officers at the time

For the combination described to the office, one job was full time and the second was part time. The opinion found no dual employment violation on that premise.

Law enforcement employers at the time

The quoted statute prohibited one full-time public position from being held alongside another full-time public position. The opinion gave no separate analysis of scheduling or agency policies.

Common questions

Q: Could a full-time city police officer work part time for another law enforcement agency?
A: The attorney general's office said yes under the dual employment provision it discussed.

Q: What if both law enforcement jobs were full time?
A: The opinion said that would be prohibited by LSA-R.S. 42:63(E).

Q: Did the opinion address a particular number of hours for the second job?
A: No. It treated the second position as part time and did not state an hours threshold.

Background and statutory framework

The office applied LSA-R.S. 42:63(E) to the police chief's request. That provision barred a person with a full-time appointive office or full-time public job from holding another full-time appointive office or full-time public job. Because the second law enforcement position in the request was part time, the office found no violation of that provision.

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 42:63(E) (dual employment restriction quoted in the opinion)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/98-0175

Original opinion text

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

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
P.O. Box 94005
ATrORNEY GENERAL
70804-9005
TEL: (504) 342-7013
FAX: (504) 342-7335
June 18, 1998
Opinion 98-175

Honorable Robert E. Landreneau
78 DUAL OFFICEHOLDING
Chief of Police
LSA-R.S. 42:63(E)
P. O. Box 277
Municipal police officer may simultaneously be employed by
another law enforcement agency where the former position is held Ville Platte, LA 70586 on a full-time basis and the later position is held on a part-time basis.
Dear Chief Landreneau:

In response to your inquiry of recent date, the law does not prohibit one from concurrently holding full-time employment as a municipal police officer while holding part-time employment with another law enforcement agency. An impermissible situation is created where both positions are held on a full-time basis, as LSA-R.S. 42:63(E) provides:

E. No person holding a full-time appointive office or full-time employment in the government of this state or of a political subdivision thereof shall at the same time hold another full-time appointive office or full-time employment in the government of the state of Louisiana, in the government of a political subdivision thereof, or in a combination of these.

No illegality exists here as one position is held on a part-time basis.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

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ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

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