Could Webster Parish create a public museum, and could its library board pay for it with library funds?

Plain-English summary

Webster Parish asked whether its police jury or library board could establish a public museum in a parish-owned building and spend public money to operate it. The attorney general's January 1999 opinion drew a line between the two bodies.

The office said the police jury could establish and fund a museum in the parish building because a museum serving citizens' cultural, educational, or recreational needs had a public purpose. It said the library board could do neither: its statutory authority was limited to governing the library and its staff, and library-dedicated funds could not be used to establish a museum.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1999. 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.

Parish officials at the time

The office found that the police jury could create a museum in a building owned by Webster Parish and expend public funds for that purpose. Its conclusion rested on the museum's public cultural, educational, or recreational role.

Library board members at the time

The opinion said the board's authority did not extend to public museums. It also said funds dedicated to libraries and library purposes could not be spent to establish one.

Museum organizers at the time

The opinion identified the police jury, rather than the library board, as the body with authority to establish and publicly fund the proposed parish museum.

Common questions

Q: Could Webster Parish use its own building for a public museum?
A: Yes. The opinion said the police jury could establish a museum in a parish-owned building.

Q: Could the library board establish that museum?
A: No. The office read the board's powers as concerning its own and the library's governance and employment of library staff.

Q: Could money dedicated to the library pay to establish the museum?
A: The opinion said no. It treated those funds as dedicated to libraries and library purposes.

Q: Why did the opinion allow the police jury to spend public funds?
A: It said a museum serving parish citizens' cultural, educational, or recreational needs fulfilled a public purpose.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion cited LSA-R.S. 25:211 et seq. for parish governing authorities' public-library powers and LSA-R.S. 25:214 for library boards' creation. It quoted LSA-R.S. 25:215(A)'s board duties concerning library governance and staffing. The office found those powers did not include establishing a separate parish museum.

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 25:211 et seq. (public-library creation and operation)
• LSA-R.S. 25:214 (board of control)
• LSA-R.S. 25:215(A) (library-board powers quoted in the opinion)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/98-0357

Original opinion text

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

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
P.O. Box 94005
ATTORNEY GENERAL
TEL: (504) 342-2013
FAX: (504) 342-7335

OPINION NUMBER 98-357

JANUARY 27 1999 ______
OPINION NUMBFIR 98-357

90 POLICE JURIES
64-1 LIBRARIES
Honorable James M. Bullers
District Attorney
LSA-R.S. 25:211, et seq
Twenty-Sixth Judicial District
Webster Parish Police Jury has the authority to Webster Parish Courthouse establish a public museum, in a building owned by the
P.O. Box 758
parish, and to spend public funds for such purposes.
Minden, Louisiana 71055
Library Board of Control does not have the authority to
establish a public museum or to spend library funds
Dear Mr. Bullers: dedicated for such purposes.

Reference is made to your request for an Attorney General’s Opinion regarding the establishment of a Parish Museum in Webster Parish.

Specifically, you have requested the opinion of this office as follows:

"1. Does the Webster Parish Police Jury and/or Library Board have the authority to establish a Parish Museum in a Parish owned building?

2. Can the Webster Parish Police Jury and/or Library Board spend public funds to establish and operate a Parish Museum?"

It is the opinion of this office that the Webster Parish Police Jury has the authority to establish a public museum, located in a building owned by the parish, and to spend public funds for such purposes. In our opinion, the establishment of a public museum to serve the cultural, educational and/or recreational needs of parish citizens is a public purpose. See Attorney General’s Opinion No. 80-1270, wherein we opined that an appropriation by a police jury for renovation of a museum is for a public purpose.

It is the further opinion of this office that the Webster Parish Library Board of Control does not have the authority to establish a public museum and it does not have the authority to spend funds dedicated for libraries for library purposes for the establishment of a museum.

LSA-R.S. 25:211, et seq provides governing authorities of parishes the power to create, establish, equip, maintain, and operate public libraries. LSA-R.S. 25:214

Page 2

Hon. James M. Bullers
OPINION NUMBER 98-357
Page -2-

provides for the creation of a board of control by the local governing authorities. Library boards of control have the following duties and powers as specifically set forth in LSA-R.S. 25:215(A):

To establish rules and regulations for its own government and that of the library not inconsistent with law;

2. To elect and employ a librarian, to employ assistant librarians and other
   employees and fix their salaries and compensation.

In essence, the powers of library boards of control are limited solely to the adoption of rules and regulations for its own government and that of the library, and the election, employment and compensation of certain personnel. Attorney General’s Opinion No. 90-339. In our opinion, the Webster Parish Library Board of Control does not have any authority pertaining to public museums.

We trust the foregoing to be of assistance. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

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