Could Louisiana's Insurance Department set leave rules for its unclassified employees despite a governor's order?

Plain-English summary

Louisiana's Insurance Commissioner asked whether his department could set leave policy for unclassified employees under Executive Order MJF 96-79. The 1998 attorney general opinion said the order did not apply to the department. The order itself excepted employees of a system authorized by the constitution or legislation to manage and supervise its own system, and LSA-R.S. 36:682 gave the commissioner authority to organize, direct, and administer the department's work.

The office compared an earlier opinion on the Department of Elections and Registration. That opinion, reproduced in the source, had applied a similar exception in a prior executive order to election officials and staff. The 1998 holding concerned the Insurance Department and Executive Order MJF 96-79.

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.

Insurance Department officials at the time

The opinion said the department could establish its own leave policies for unclassified staff because the commissioner's statutory management authority brought the department within the order's exception.

Unclassified employees at the time

The opinion addressed unclassified employees within the Insurance Department. It did not announce a leave rule for all unclassified state employees.

Common questions

Q: Did Executive Order MJF 96-79 govern Insurance Department leave?
A: The attorney general's office said the department fell within the order's exception for a system authorized by law to manage and supervise itself.

Q: What law gave the commissioner that authority?
A: The opinion quoted LSA-R.S. 36:682, which authorized the Insurance Commissioner to organize, plan, supervise, direct, administer, and execute the department's functions.

Q: Why did the opinion include an older elections opinion?
A: It used Opinion No. 89-216 as an analogy. That earlier opinion applied a similar exception in Executive Order BR-88-23 to election officials and staff, and its text is attached to the 1998 source.

Background and statutory framework

Executive Order MJF 96-79 addressed leave for unclassified executive-branch employees but excluded employees of a system that a constitution or legislative act authorized to manage and supervise itself. The office compared LSA-R.S. 36:682's grant of management authority to the Insurance Commissioner with LSA-R.S. 36:662(4), which had supported its earlier elections opinion. It concluded that the Insurance Department qualified for the exception in the later order.

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 36:682 (Insurance Commissioner management authority)
• LSA-R.S. 36:662(4) (elections-department analogy in the attached prior opinion)
• Executive Order MJF 96-79 (unclassified leave order discussed in the 1998 opinion)
• Attorney General Opinion No. 89-216 (prior opinion reproduced in the source)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/98-0253

Original opinion text

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

One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
,/
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. Box 94005
CIVIL DIVISION
TEL.: (504) 342-7013
BATON ROUGE
FAX: (504) 342-2090

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9095
A’rFORN EY GENERAL

August 18, 1998
OPINION NUMBER 98-253

109 - State - Employees & Departments
LSA-R.S 36:662(4)
Mr. James H. "Jim" Brown
LSA-R.S. 36:682
Commissioner of Insurance
The Department of Insurance is exempt from Executive Order State of Louisiana
MJF 96-79 dealing with unclassified state employee leave. The
P.O. Box 94214
Department has the authority to establish its own leave policies
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9214 for all unclassified employees within its system.

Dear Commissioner Brown:

Your request for an Attorney General’s Opinion has been forwarded to me for research and reply. You question whether the Department of Insurance has the authority to establish a leave policy for its unclassified employees.

In your letter you mention Executive Order BR-88-23. That order stated that the rules and policies established by that order were applicable to all officers and employees in unclassified state service including all employees of the Executive Office within the Office of the Governor, with certain exceptions. One of the exceptions listed included, "employees of a system that is authorized by the Constitution or legislative act to manage and supervise its own system".

More recently, Executive Order MJF 96-79, dealing with unclassified state employee leave, stated that the order was applicable to all officers and employees in the unclassified service of the Executive Branch of the State of Louisiana, "except elected officials and officers and employees of a system that is authorized by the Constitution or legislative act to manage and supervise its own system".

In Attorney General Opinion No. 89-216, a copy of which is attached hereto, we held that the Department of Elections and Registration was excluded from the application of Executive Order No. BR-88-23. The opinion held that the Commissioner of Elections by legislative act is authorized to "organize, plan, supervise, direct, administer, execute, and be responsible for the functions and programs vested in the department". LSA- R.S. 36:662(4). In that opinion, we held that such legislative act gave the Commissioner of Elections the authority to manage and supervise the Department of Elections and Registration and fell within the exception provided by Section 1.7 of Executive Order BR-88-23.

Page 2

Mr. James H. "Jim" Brown
OPINION NUMBER 98-253
Page ~2~

Also, by legislative act, the Commissioner of Insurance is authorized to, "organize, plan, supervise, direct, administer, execute, and be responsible for the functions and programs vested in the department, in the manner and to the extent provided in this title". LSA-R.S. 36:682.

It is our opinion that such legislative authorization falls within the exception provided by Executive Order MJF 96-79, which excludes application of the order to, "...elected officials and officers and employees of a system that is authorized by the Constitution or legislative act to manage and supervise its own system".

I trust this sufficiently addresses your concerns. If our office may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

CHARLES H. BRAUD, JR.
Assistant Attorney General
RPI:CHB:glb

Page 3

DEPARTMENT OF ,JUSTICE

APRIL 1ZB89
OPINION NUMBER 89-216

Mr. Robley P. "Shine" Domingue
Assistant Commissioner of Election
P. O. Box 14179
Baton Rouge, LA 70890-4179
Dear Mr. Domingue:
You have requested an opinion of this office as to the effect of Executive Order BR-88-23 on Parish Registrars of Voters and their unclassified employees.
It is our opinion, in keeping with Op. Atty. Gen. No.
79-998, that registrars of voters are officers of the state government rather than parish .government.
The Constitution of 1974, provides in Article ii, Section I:
"The legislature shall adopt an election code which shall provide for permanent registration of voters and for the conduct of all elections."
Pursuant to this constitutional authority, the legislature enacted a revised Election Code, which provides for the appointment of a registrar of voters in each parish by the governing authority subject to supervision and dismissal by the State Board of Election Supervisors. LSA-R.S. 18:51,53.
The functions of the registrars and their offices are subject to the rules and regulations of the Department of Elections and Registration, a part of the executive branch of state government. Const. Art. 4, Sec. 12; LSA-R.S. 36:662.

Page 4

Mr. Robley P. "Shine" Domingue
Opinion No. 89-216
Page -2-

Executive Order No. BR-88-23 governs the earning and use of leave by officers and employees in the unclassified state service. Its application includes all appointees on leave without pay from classified positions and all employees of the Executive Office within the Office of the Governor. The Executive Order lists ten (i0) exceptions to its application. Included in these exceptions is Section 1.7 which excludes the application of the order to:
"Employees of a system that is authorized by the constitution or legislative act to manage and supervise its own system."
By legislative act, the Commissioner of Elections is authorized to, "Organize, plan, supervise, direct, administer, execute, and be responsible for the functions and programs vested in the department." LSA-R.S. 36:662(4). We are of the opinion that this legislative act gives the Commissioner of Elections the authority to manage and supervise the Department of Elections and Registration which encompasses the parish registrar of voters and the employees of the various registrars.
Accordingly, by virtue of Section 1.7 of Executive Order No. BR-88-23, the Registrars of Voters and their employees are exempt from the application of Executive Order No. BR-88-23.
Very truly yours,
WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR.

Henry A. Barham, III °~
Assistant Attorney General
HAB:ec