Louisiana Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Louisiana, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Could a Louisiana hospital award allied-health scholarships to licensed practical nurses even though another nursing scholarship law excluded them?
Yes. The AG said licensed practical nurses were eligible as a profession for allied-health scholarships under La. R.S. 46:1151. Their exclusion from the separate registered-nurse scholarship program…
Could Zachary remove a council member who interfered with city employee hiring?
The AG said Zachary's charter provided a forfeiture mechanism if a council member actively interfered with appointment, removal, direction, or supervision of city staff. It said the process needed…
Does an assigned Louisiana justice of the peace receive the pay of the judge whose duties he takes over?
The AG said a judge assigned to a court was entitled to compensation no less than that of the court’s judges, including additional compensation. It applied that rule to a justice of the peace who…
Could Zachary's mayor remove one set of duties from a combined department job without council approval?
No. The AG said Zachary's mayor could propose changes to department functions or duties, but Section 4-11 of the city's home rule charter required council approval. Allowing the holder of a…
Did Zachary need a separate ordinance to raise municipal civil-service pay rates already approved in its budget?
No. The AG concluded that increasing rates in Zachary's municipal civil-service pay plan did not change the provisions governing civil service, so the charter's separate-ordinance requirement was…
Did Simmesport need a voter election or public bids to sell its municipal natural-gas system?
The AG said Simmesport could sell its gas system, but a sale to a private entity required the statutory proposal, notice, hearing, voter-approval, and ordinance steps. A sale to another public…
Could Maringouin's elected police chief also work full time as an Iberville Parish deputy sheriff?
Yes. Although Louisiana's general dual-officeholding rule would bar an elected police chief from also holding the full-time appointive office of deputy sheriff, the AG said a specific exception for…
Could a Louisiana water district credit a customer's bill for a leak without proof of the repair?
The AG said the district's policy, as written, was deficient because it did not require customers to document leaks and repairs before getting a bill adjustment. It described credits as permissible…
Could a Crowley alderman also work for a locally run, federally funded assistance program?
The AG concluded that the Crowley alderman could not also hold his A.S.S.I.S.T. job on the assumption that his work involved federally funded activities. It relied chiefly on the Hatch Act's…
Could a school board circulate an employee's old personnel-file documents without notifying the employee?
Based on the facts supplied, the AG said Caddo Parish School Board's handling of an employee's old personnel-file documents appeared to violate the School Employee Personnel Files Act. It said board…
Could an elected Acadia Parish school board member also work as the parish librarian?
Yes. The AG treated the parish librarian as a parish employee and the elected school board member as an officeholder in a separate political subdivision. Under the dual-officeholding rule it…
Could a Louisiana volunteer fire rescue unit bill accident victims' insurers for routine traffic-crash calls?
Generally no. The AG said Red River Parish's volunteer rescue unit could not charge the insurers of people involved in traffic accidents simply because it responded to a scene. Specific statutes…
Could Louisiana's Ground Water Resources Commission overturn the conservation commissioner's aquifer and groundwater orders?
Only some orders. The AG concluded that the Ground Water Resources Commission could approve or reject the conservation commissioner's orders restricting wells or proposed wells, but lacked authority…
Could Winnfield's elected marshal also serve part time as a district attorney's investigator?
Yes. The AG classified the district attorney's investigator as an appointive office and found that R.S. 42:63(D) did not bar an elected city marshal from holding that office part time in a separate…
Could a Louisiana parish treasurer obtain death certificates and emergency commitment records directly from the parish coroner?
No. The AG said the coroner could not provide the parish treasurer with death certificates, which were governed by the state registrar's vital-record rules, or emergency commitment medical records,…
Could Grambling require a local building permit for construction or renovation of a Louisiana state-owned building?
No. The AG said LSA-R.S. 40:1724 covered construction, alteration, additions, and renovations of all state-owned buildings, so Grambling could not require a local building permit for that work. The…
Would the Louisiana AG defend a Baton Rouge city court judge and indemnify a judgment?
The AG said city court judges were entitled to representation by the Attorney General's office for claims arising from official judicial acts, but were excluded from the state indemnification…
Who collects Louisiana's commercial bail bond premium fee when a defendant is booked into a city jail?
The AG said the fee applied to commercial surety criminal bail bonds even when the person was booked in a municipal jail. The parish sheriff, rather than the municipal jail, had authority to collect…
Who appointed East Baton Rouge's alcohol-control director after the board-chair rule changed?
The parish attorney still appointed the director of East Baton Rouge's Alcoholic Beverage Control Office. The AG said a 2005 ordinance changed only the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board's…
Can a Louisiana liquor permit be revoked because a church opens nearby after the business was licensed?
The AG said a church's later arrival within the restricted distance did not automatically revoke an existing alcohol permit. Louisiana law expressly protected renewal of qualifying low-alcohol…
Could homeowners keep Louisiana's homestead exemption after putting naked ownership in a revocable trust but retaining a usufruct?
No under the 2004 constitutional language the AG analyzed. It concluded that a revocable trust's ownership of the residence barred the homestead exemption even when the former owners retained a…
Could a Louisiana riverboat gaming operator close one boat but keep its license, or use two licenses on one boat?
No to both proposals as framed. The AG concluded that an operator voluntarily ending gaming on a riverboat had to surrender that boat's license, and that one riverboat could not operate under two licenses.
Could a Louisiana housing authority hire the district attorney's office as paid counsel when that office had no duty to represent it?
Yes. The AG said the Terrebonne district attorney was not legally required to represent the Houma Terrebonne Housing Authority. Because the authority was a separate political subdivision outside the…
Could the Orleans Levee District president set his own salary and claim nine years of back pay?
No. The AG said the president could not unilaterally set and take a salary; the board had to determine administrator status and submit a proposed salary for statutory review before final approval…
Could Louisiana co-sign a local government’s federal disaster-recovery loan?
No. The AG said Louisiana lacked authority to co-sign a local government’s promissory note under the 2005 federal disaster loan program. It treated the guarantee as a prohibited pledge or donation…
Could Louisiana local governments clear debris or demolish dangerous private structures after Katrina without prior owner notice?
For the Katrina and Rita emergencies, the AG said local governments could enter private land for debris removal and, as a last resort, demolish hazardous structures when immediate conditions made…
Could the Terrebonne port lease or sell a publicly owned shipyard to its private operator for a nominal price?
No. The AG said the Terrebonne Parish Port Commission could not lease or sell its planned, port-owned shipbuilding facility to the private operator for a nominal amount or below fair market value.…
Could disability council contractors bill Louisiana for time at the Capitol spent giving facts or listening to hearings?
The AG said the state-funds lobbying ban did not prohibit contractors from giving strictly factual information to people with disabilities or from listening and gathering information at hearings,…
Could a Louisiana florist sell cut flowers through an unattended kiosk without a licensed florist at each machine?
Yes, for the off-site kiosk described. The AG treated its automated sale of single or bunched cut flowers as analogous to a cut flower dealer's mobile cart, requiring a dealer permit but no licensed…
Could a Louisiana environmental department employee also serve on an elected school board?
No. The AG concluded that a full-time Department of Environmental Quality assistant secretary could not also hold an elected school board seat because R.S. 42:63(D) prohibited a local elected…
Who paid a Louisiana off-duty police officer's witness fee for appearing in a mayor's court?
No one was responsible under the statute the AG reviewed. La. R.S. 15:255 authorized off-duty officer witness fees in listed district, parish, juvenile, and city courts, but had no comparable…
Did Tangipahoa's vote against video poker also ban electronic video bingo, and could a town ban only video bingo?
No. The AG said Tangipahoa Parish's 1996 video draw poker vote did not itself prohibit licensed charitable electronic video bingo. A local governing authority could still restrict or prohibit…
Could Vermilion Parish's tourist commission use a new hotel tax to fund private youth sports fees, and how should it allocate the money?
The AG said the special occupancy tax could fund parish-wide youth athletic programs established by the tourist commission, directly or through an authorized public cooperative agreement. It could…
Could Louisiana public university officials lobby legislators about pending bills under the 2005 law?
The AG said public university professors, administrators, system presidents, and Board of Regents members were state employees for this analysis, but left open whether the lobbying ban reached those…
Who had to pay for Ouachita's tax-collector software and the preparation and printing of property-tax notices?
The AG said the Ouachita police jury was responsible for providing the sheriff's special new tax-collection software and tax notices, including preparation and printing costs. It classified them as…
Did Louisiana's 2005 sex-offender registration rule cover people released without supervised probation?
Yes. The AG concluded that release without supervised probation did not exempt a person covered by Louisiana's sex-offender registration law from registration and notification duties.
Are van-accessible parking spaces in Louisiana state lots reserved only for vans?
No. The AG said the van-accessible sign identifies a space with a wider access aisle, but does not reserve it for vans alone. Louisiana's Office of State Buildings should not add “only” to the sign…
Could Louisiana parishes use public crews on evacuated residents’ property after Hurricane Katrina without signed entry permission?
For the catastrophic flooding and mandatory evacuation described, the AG said public equipment and labor could protect residents’ private homes without an authorized right of entry after a disaster…
Does hauling sugar cane in a truck count as manual labor for a Louisiana contractor’s workers’ compensation coverage?
Assuming the cane hauler was an independent contractor, the AG said driving and the listed truck operation tasks did not count as manual labor under the statutory exception to the contractor…
Did a 1989 parish vote still authorize off-track betting and video poker in Louisiana?
No. Because off-track wagering had never begun in Avoyelles or St. Martin Parish, the AG said the 1989 approvals were superseded: a new parish referendum, specifically authorized by the legislature,…
Could Richwood rely on its 1991 vote to open an off-track betting facility?
No. The AG concluded that Richwood's 1991 referendum could not by itself authorize an off-track wagering facility after later constitutional and statutory changes. Where the wagering had not been…
Could Iberia Parish install paid-for driveway culverts and regulate waste pickup stations?
The AG said Iberia Parish could install a driveway culvert in the public right of way when the owner paid the project's fair-market costs. It could require permits for solid-waste pickup stations…
Could Louisiana's State Museum create its own police force with peace-officer powers?
The AG found no statutory authority for the State Museum Board to create its own law-enforcement force. It said capitol police were peace officers and that their jurisdiction could extend to…
Could a Louisiana drainage district spend money on a ditch extending beyond its boundaries?
Yes. The AG said R.S. 38:1764 expressly allowed a gravity drainage district to extend canals or ditches beyond its boundaries to secure a proper outlet for district waters, so the district could…
Could Louisiana sell sixteenth-section school lands without a local school board's consent?
The AG said the state owned sixteenth-section school lands and could sell them without the local school board's consent, subject to the required township vote and sale procedures. It also described…
Did Beauregard Parish's old dry-ward votes still restrict alcohol sales after election districts changed?
No. The AG concluded that Beauregard Parish's new election districts were considered wet because no district, as newly constituted, had held a local option election prohibiting alcohol sales. The…
Were West Jefferson Service Corporation's records subject to Louisiana's Public Records Law?
Yes. The AG concluded that West Jefferson Service Corporation was a quasi-public corporation subject to Louisiana's Public Records Law because of its close relationship with West Jefferson Medical…
Could Ville Platte use criminal court fund money to pay off-duty officers for a LACE detail?
Yes. The AG applied its earlier LACE opinions to Ville Platte and said criminal court fund money could pay off-duty officers for a local enforcement detail when the police chief, city judge, and…
Could a Louisiana legislator nominate a student from another parish for a Tulane legislative scholarship?
Yes. The AG concluded that, under the 1982 amendment to the Tulane scholarship agreement, a legislator could nominate a Louisiana resident from outside the legislator's own parish or district.
Who transported and paid for a patient under Louisiana emergency mental-health certificates?
The AG said the sheriff where a patient was located executed a properly issued physician emergency certificate, regardless of the patient's residence. Commitment costs were paid by an able patient…
Could Plaquemines Parish voters abolish their civil-service system with a local referendum?
No. Because Plaquemines Parish adopted its civil-service system under the constitution's permanent local-option provision, the AG said neither the council nor parish voters could abolish it by local…
Who set employment rules for a full-time Harahan police employee outside civil service?
The AG said the employee was governed by the Harahan Police Department's rules and the elected chief's supervision, rather than the city's general non-civil-service ordinance. The chief could set…
Did Harahan's city personnel rules or its police department rules govern a civilian police employee's compensatory time?
The AG concluded that the Harahan Police Department's rules governed its civilian employee, rather than the city's general personnel rules. Under the facts the chief described, the department's…
Could Donaldsonville abolish the civil-service system created by its home-rule charter?
Yes, through a charter amendment approved by city voters. The AG said Donaldsonville could propose abolishing its charter-created civil-service system, but the charter barred submitting an amendment…
Could West Baton Rouge Parish charge a wastewater development impact fee under its home rule charter?
No. The AG treated West Baton Rouge Parish's proposed wastewater development impact charge as a tax designed to raise parish revenue. It concluded that the parish's home rule charter and general…
Can the public obtain Louisiana public-school students' names and addresses, and can board members see them?
The AG said public-school students' names, addresses, and phone numbers in school records were exempt from disclosure to the general public. It also said a school board member could access that…
Could a Louisiana town match donations for one park without giving the same amount to another?
Yes, conditionally. The AG said Amite's council could match a private group's $25,000 for equipment at one park without appropriating an equal amount for another, so long as the choice had no…
Could Webster Parish's watershed district charge cities, rural nonprofits, and home wells a commercial water fee?
No. The AG concluded that the district's authority to charge for commercial use of water resources did not reach cities, member-owned nonprofit rural water systems, or private domestic well users.
Did Varnado's aldermen have to notify the elected police chief before raising an officer's pay?
Yes. The AG said Varnado's elected police chief had to receive notice before the mayor or board acted on a part-time officer's raise, so he could perform his statutory duty to make recommendations…
Which per diem law governed Amite River Basin drainage district board members in 2005?
The AG said R.S. 38:3304 governed the Amite River Basin district's board per diem because the district was neither a levee district nor a levee and drainage district under R.S. 38:308. The cited…
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Attorney general opinions in Louisiana are written by the Louisiana Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.