Did the Oil City police chief recall petition have enough valid signatures to trigger an election?

Plain-English summary

The Governor's deputy executive counsel asked whether a certified petition to recall Michael Richard Knight, Oil City's police chief, required a recall election. The registrar reported 212 qualified signatures from a voting area with 531 active registered voters. The attorney general's office treated the signatures as sufficient under the recall law then in effect and concluded that the Governor should issue an election proclamation.

The opinion identified January 16, 1999 as the next available election date. It also described the proclamation's publication and delivery to state and parish officials.

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.

Election officials at the time

The opinion relied on the registrar's certification of petition signatures and voter totals. It said the certified number supported an election proclamation for this recall petition.

The Governor's office at the time

The opinion said the Governor should call a special recall election and identified January 16, 1999 as the next date under the election statute it cited. It also described publication in the Caddo Parish official journal and delivery of copies to the Secretary of State and district court clerk.

Petition organizers at the time

The opinion counted only the signatures the registrar certified as qualified. Its conclusion addressed this petition and the voter total reported for Oil City.

Common questions

Q: Did the Oil City police chief recall petition qualify for an election?
A: The 1998 opinion said yes. It accepted the registrar's 212 qualified signatures as sufficient for the Governor to call a recall election.

Q: Were all 235 names on the petition counted?
A: No. The registrar's figures in the opinion excluded names for authenticity, registration, cancellation, and duplicate-signature reasons, leaving 212 qualified signatures.

Q: When did the opinion say the recall election should take place?
A: It identified January 16, 1999 as the next available special-election date under the statute it cited.

Q: Where did the opinion say the Governor had to publish the election proclamation?
A: In the official journal of Caddo Parish. The opinion also said copies had to be sent to the Secretary of State and the parish district court clerk.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion applied LSA-R.S. 18:1300.2(B), which it quoted as setting a higher petition-signature share when fewer than one thousand qualified electors lived in the voting area. It relied on the registrar's certification under LSA-R.S. 18:1300.3. It placed the Governor's proclamation duty under Section 1300.7 and identified the election date under LSA-R.S. 18:402(F).

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 18:1300.2(B) (recall petition signatures)
• LSA-R.S. 18:1300.3 and LSA-R.S. 18:1300.3(C) (registrar certification and transmission)
• LSA-R.S. 18:402(F) (election date)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/98-0434

Original opinion text

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

One American Place
301 Ma~n 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
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

October 20, 1998
OPINION NUMBER 98-434

24-A - Elections, Recall
LSA-R.S. 18:402(F)
Ms. Kimberly Wooten
LSA-R.S. 18:1300.2(B)
Deputy Executive Counsel to the Governor
LSA-R.S. 18:1300.3
LSA-R.S. 18:1300.3(C)
P.O. Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9005
The recall petition contains the required number of signatures (40% of 531)
for the Governor to issue a proclamation ordering a special election on the question of recall of Mr. Michael Richard Knight, Chief of Police, Town of
Dear Ms. Wooten: Oil City, Caddo Parish Special election to be held January 16, 1999.

We are in receipt of your request for an Attorney General’s opinion with regard to the recall petition directed toward Michael Richard Knight, Chief of Police, Town of Oil City, Parish of Caddo. The registrar of voters certified the recall petition on October 7, 1998, and has presented same to the Governor. Therefore, you have requested an opinion as to whether the governor should issue a proclamation ordering an election to be held for the purpose of voting on the question of recall.

The petition conforms with the requirements of LSA-R.S. 18:3, LSA-R.S. 18:1300.3(C) requires the registrar to send the original petition to the Governor immediately after certification. Section 1300.7 requires the Governor to issue a proclamation, within fifteen days after the petition is presented to him, to order an election to be held for the purpose of voting on the question of recall of the officer if the required number of registered voters sign the petition for recall.

LSA-R.S. 18:1300.3 requires the registrar to certify to (1) the number of names on the petition; (2) the number of qualified electors of the voting area within the parish whose signatures appear on the petition; (3) the total number of electors of the voting area within the parish as of the date of the filing of the petition with the secretary of state; and to indicate on the petition the number of names who are not electors of the voting area.

The recall petition, containing 9 pages, was properly certified by the Registrar of Voters in accordance with LSA-R.S. 18:1300.3. The Registrar’s letter to the Governor, summarizing the results of his certification of the recall petition, provides as follows:

TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES OF PETITION .......................................... 9

TOTAL NUMBER OF NAMES ON PETITION ....................................... 235

TOTAL NUMBER OF NAMES NOT ALLOWED BECAUSE THEY WERE ADJUDGED NOT TO BE AUTHENTIC ............................. 20

Page 2

Ms. Kimberly Wooten
Deputy Executive Counsel to the Governor
OPINION NUMBER 98-434
PAGE ’-’2-

TOTAL NUMBER OF NAMES NOT ALLOWED BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT REGISTERED VOTERS IN OIL CITY ........................ 1

TOTAL NUMBER OF NAMES NOT ALLOWED DUE TO CANCELLATION ....................................................................................... 2

TOTAL NUMBER OF NAMES NOT ALLOWED BECAUSE THEY SIGNED THE PETITION TWICE .................................................... 1

TOTAL NUMBER OF NAMES ADJUDGED TO BE
AUTHENTIC .......................................................................................... 212

TOTAL NUMBER OF ACTIVE VOTERS PURSUANT TO LSA-R.S. 18:196(A)(1) REGISTERED IN THE TOWN OF OIL CITY AS OF JULY 28, 1998 ........................................................................... 531

LSA-R.S. 18:1300.2(B) requires a recall petition to be "[s]igned by a number of the electors of the voting area as will in number equal not less than thirty-three and one- third percent of the number of the total electors of the voting area wherein and for which a recall election is petitioned; however, where fewer than one thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by not less than forty percent of said electors." The Registrar certified that the total number of voters registered in the Town of Oil City was 531, a total of 212 valid signatures is required on the recall petition for the Governor to issue a proclamation for a special election.

The Registrar certified that there are a total of 212 qualified signatures on the recall petition, which does meet the required forty percent. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that the validated signatures on the recall petition are sufficient in number for the Governor to issue a proclamation ordering a special election on the question of recall for Michael Richard Knight, Chief of Police, Town of Oil City, Caddo Parish.

The proclamation ordering the recall shall provide for the election to be held on the next available date specified in LSA-R.S. 18:402(F), which is January 16, 1999. The Governor shall publish the proclamation in the official journal of the Parish of Caddo, and send by registered or certified mail a copy of the proclamation to the Secretary of State and to the clerk of the district court for said parish within 24 hours after issuing the proclamation.

Page 3

Ms. Kimberly Wooten
Deputy Executive Counsel to the Governor
OPINION NUMBER 98-434
PAGE ~3~

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. IEYO

By:
III
Assistant Attorney General

RPI:CMF:glb