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 Plaquemines Parish's civil service commission move a job to a different pay range without council approval?
Yes. The AG said the commission could reallocate classified positions under the parish's adopted pay plan and rules without consulting the parish government or obtaining its approval that funds were…
Who paid a Louisiana sheriff's tax-notice and private collection contractor costs?
The AG said the parish and other tax recipients did not have to reimburse the Washington Parish sheriff for producing property-tax notices or hiring a private tax-collection contractor. The sheriff…
Who paid an off-duty Louisiana police officer's fee for testifying in city court?
The AG said the local governing authority paid qualifying off-duty officer witness fees from a special fund of assessed and collected city-court costs, rather than the officer's employer. A…
Could a Louisiana school board make employee raises effective from an earlier budget commitment?
The AG said a school board could make raises effective from the date it had obligated itself to pay them. It treated the East Baton Rouge board's millage vote, resolutions, and commitment to raises…
Could a Louisiana provider assert an injury lien without overbilling an insured patient?
The AG found no conflict between the provider-lien law and the health-insurance billing restrictions discussed in 2005. A provider could pursue a lien for reasonable charges where appropriate, but a…
Can the elected Union Parish sheriff serve on the parish detention center commission?
Yes. The AG said the statute establishing the Union Parish Detention Center Commission expressly included the sheriff, and the commission seat was part time. It read that specific statutory…
Can the New Orleans Regional Business Park's executive director run for and serve in the Louisiana Legislature?
The AG said the executive director generally could run for state office while employed, if workplace policies and civil-service rules allowed it, but had to use personal leave to campaign during…
Could Orleans Parish require notary exam applicants to take a preparation course and show extra proof of good conduct?
No. The AG concluded that the Orleans Parish Notarial Examining Committee could not require a police good-conduct letter and extra proof of competency, including coursework or supervised study,…
Does Louisiana's treasury need a new appropriation to advance cash to an agency awaiting appropriated revenue?
No additional appropriation was needed under the AG's analysis for a treasury cash advance on expenses already appropriated to a state agency. The advance had to follow LSA-R.S. 39:71(D), remain…
Can a salaried Louisiana coroner charge the parish extra for emergency psychiatric commitment exams?
Not on the facts presented. The AG said the salaried Livingston Parish coroner could not claim additional fees under the cited criminal-procedure provision because no court had appointed him to…
Does a school board vote to negotiate a superintendent's three-year contract create a binding offer?
The AG did not decide whether St. John the Baptist Parish School Board had offered or formed a three-year superintendent contract. It said that depended on factual questions about the board's…
Can a Louisiana justice of the peace jail someone for contempt, and are the justice's judicial acts immune from suit?
The AG said a justice of the peace could punish direct contempt with a fine of up to $50, up to 24 hours in parish jail, or both, after due process. It also said judicial acts within the justice's…
How did Louisiana school boards calculate bus operator reimbursements when routes changed?
The AG could not decide whether the per-mile reimbursement rate applied to one-way or round-trip miles. It said a board-approved bus purchase could protect the officially designated route length…
Can a licensed video poker device maker supply software for Louisiana's central monitoring system?
Potentially. The AG said a licensed device manufacturer could develop, supply, or perhaps maintain software for Louisiana's video poker monitoring system, but could not control polling or remote…
When must a school employee and parish councilman leave those roles after winning a school board seat?
The AG said the St. Mary school board employee could campaign while employed but had to resign that job immediately upon election to his employing board. He could keep his parish council seat until…
Did Red River Parish have to keep funding garbage collection with surplus sales-tax revenue?
No. The AG said the parish police jury could allocate surplus proceeds among the uses listed in the voter-approved tax proposition, including but not limited to garbage collection. The proposition…
Could a Louisiana council privately discuss hiring a parish attorney and rank candidates in writing?
The AG said council members could discuss a parish attorney appointment in executive session under the cited personnel exception, with advance notice and a candidate's right to demand public…
Could a Louisiana public port accept company stock to settle a bankruptcy debt?
Yes. The AG said the Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission could accept stock distributed under a bankruptcy plan as payment of a debt, because it was not purchasing shares as a public investment. The…
Can a Louisiana police chief adopt a policy allowing drivers to exceed posted speed limits?
The AG said a police chief could not adopt a department policy that effectively allowed speeds above posted limits. Speed limits and zones had to be established or changed by municipal ordinance…
Could a Louisiana court pay a judge's defense lawyer while judicial misconduct allegations were still pending?
No. The AG said the court could not pay the judge's legal fees while the Judiciary Commission allegations were unresolved. Reimbursement from the Judicial Expense Fund could follow exoneration if…
Could a Louisiana parish police jury remove a tourist commission member before a fixed term ended?
No. The AG concluded that the Natchitoches Parish Tourist Commission was a separate state political subdivision and the police jury lacked authority to remove its members before their fixed terms…
Did a Louisiana city need a possession lawsuit before donating tax-adjudicated land to a nonprofit?
The AG concluded that a municipality did not have to file a possession suit under the cited leasing statutes before a qualifying donation of tax-adjudicated property to a nonprofit. The donation…
Could Louisiana favor a locally made fire truck or a Louisiana vendor in a public purchase?
The AG said Louisiana law offered a conditional preference for fire apparatus produced or assembled in the state, based on the product rather than the bidder's address. A separate reciprocity law…
Could Louisiana's state long-term care ombudsman comment on legislation despite the ban on state employees lobbying?
The AG said the state employee lobbying restriction did not prevent the long-term care ombudsman from performing official duties that included analyzing laws and recommending changes. It relied on…
Could a Louisiana school board lend assistive technology to a student for home use?
The AG said a school board could provide a school-owned assistive device for home use when a legal educational obligation required it, including an IEP team's determination that home access was…
Could a Louisiana town acquire cemetery land so it could spend public funds mowing it?
The AG said Arcadia could acquire the cemetery parcel and pay to maintain it if town officials found the acquisition served the public interest. The AG did not determine who already owned the parcel…
Must a physician chosen for a Louisiana hospital service district board live in the district?
Yes. The AG said the physician chosen for Richland Parish Hospital Service District No. 1-B must be a qualified voter and resident of that district. Its special rule for a six-member board did not…
Could a Louisiana school board build an industrial park on sixteenth-section school land?
No. The AG concluded that East Feliciana Parish School Board could not itself develop an industrial park on a sixteenth-section tract using an economic-development grant. It described a limited…
Could a Louisiana city cap how much unused vacation leave employees carried into the next year?
The AG concluded that New Iberia could set reasonable limits on when earned vacation leave had to be used and how much could carry over. Its analysis relied on employees having an opportunity to use…
Did Louisiana's expanded homestead exemption also expand the senior property-tax assessment freeze?
No. The AG said the 2004 expansion of the homestead exemption did not change the separate Special Assessment Level requirements. A claimant still needed the homestead exemption and had to meet the…
Could Baton Rouge require its water company to fluoridate water and charge customers for it?
The AG concluded that Baton Rouge's city-parish council could require community water fluoridation by ordinance, that the local water company would have to comply, and that the ordinance could…
Could a Louisiana city let an owner redeem tax-adjudicated property after the three-year period?
The AG said a municipality could allow an owner to redeem adjudicated property after the three-year period if it had not sold or contracted to sell it. Proper notice to the tax debtor and qualifying…
How was a Louisiana school employee's retirement benefit affected by working three more years after DROP?
The AG said that when a school retirement participant worked at least thirty-six months after ending DROP participation, the retirement benefit included the original base benefit plus an added…
Could a Louisiana town council member also hold an administrative job with the town police department?
No. The AG said Louisiana's dual-officeholding law barred an elected council member from also being employed by the same town, whether the police department job was full time or part time.…
Could a Louisiana town's part-time assistant police chief also work full time as its water superintendent?
Yes, on the facts given. The AG said Louisiana's dual-employment law barred two full-time government jobs but did not bar one part-time and one full-time job, provided the duties of neither position…
Could a Louisiana public water district ignore a contract overpayment instead of trying to recover it?
No. The AG concluded that making no recovery effort would violate Louisiana's constitutional bar on donating public funds. The water district had to use every reasonable means to recover the…
Did federal bus insurance rules cover a Louisiana school board and its contract drivers on paid out-of-state trips?
The AG said the school board's own passenger trips were exempt from the federal motor carrier insurance requirements because the board was a political subdivision. Its contract bus operators,…
Were a Louisiana planning commission's loan committee meetings open to the public?
Yes. The AG said the South Central Planning and Development Commission's loan advisory committee and loan administration board were subject to open meetings law. They could discuss confidential or…
Did a Louisiana parish or municipality pay the coroner's fees and autopsy costs?
The AG said the payer depended on the death's cause and location. For natural causes, the deceased's municipality or parish of domicile paid; for other deaths, the municipality or parish where the…
Could a Louisiana parish reimburse an official's legal fees after he lost a dual-officeholding case?
No. The AG concluded that Acadia Parish Police Jury could not reimburse a former official's defense fees in a dual-officeholding declaratory judgment: the court found a violation and ordered him to…
Could Louisiana assess property tax on oil or gas a producer stored before its first sale?
The AG said no: oil or gas held by its producer, including at the extraction site after severance, was not subject to ad valorem tax before the first sale. The opinion rejected treating the producer…
Where did a Louisiana public works steering committee have to meet to nominate commissioners?
The AG said the St. Landry public works steering committee had to hold commissioner-nomination meetings in each precinct, including when replacing a member. Notice could be given through the…
Could Louisiana's boxing commission pay ringside doctors more than the $50 exam fee?
The AG concluded that the $50 statutory cap covered a physician's examination of contestants, not additional ringside attendance, advice, or services requested by the boxing commission. It…
Who controlled Louisiana fire-insurance rebate funds after a parish paid a volunteer department?
Under R.S. 22:1585D, the AG said the Tangipahoa Parish treasurer had to pay the Natalbany Volunteer Fire Department's proportionate rebate share to its fiscal agent within 30 days of receipt. Once…
Could a Louisiana liquor licensee hold a wine tasting away from its licensed premises?
No. The AG concluded that a liquor permit allowing wine sampling on the licensee's premises did not extend to tastings at another location. It found the alcohol-control rule requiring on-premises…
Was a sweet-potato warehouse on nonfarming land exempt from Louisiana property tax?
The AG said a building qualified as a farm structure for the cited property-tax exemption only if it stood on land devoted to agriculture. It did not decide whether the specific sweet-potato…
Could a Louisiana city self-insure a council member instead of buying life insurance?
Yes, on the facts presented. The AG said it found no provision of law barring Baker from self-insuring one council member's life instead of providing the previously approved life-insurance policy.
Could a Louisiana city marshal use personal commissions to supplement deputy salaries?
The AG concluded that commissions paid to the marshal personally could not be used directly by his office to supplement deputy marshals' salaries. He could donate part of those commissions to the…
Can a Louisiana mayor require a council member to co-sign town checks?
The AG concluded that the mayor could require a council member's second signature if the mayor still signed every check, the co-signer had no discretion to refuse, and the mayor could revoke the…
Could a parish retiree receive unused sick leave pay if pension payments began later?
On this employee's specific facts, the AG concluded that Beauregard Parish owed payment for accumulated sick leave even though his pension benefits began after he stopped working. The opinion read…
Could a Louisiana town council require police to issue enough tickets to meet budgeted fine revenue?
No. The AG concluded that a Lawrason Act town council could not set direct or indirect traffic-ticket quotas for the police department. A budget forecast of fine revenue did not transfer the police…
Could a Louisiana juvenile court hire a person with an expunged criminal or juvenile record?
The AG said an expunged adult record alone did not prohibit hiring, but a conviction for a crime listed in LSA-R.S. 15:587.1(C) barred it. It said an expunged juvenile delinquency record should not…
Could a Louisiana mayor also work for the town's community center?
No. The AG concluded that the mayor of Waterproof could not also work for its community center because the center was a municipal entity. The cited dual-officeholding statute barred local elected…
Did a Louisiana officer hired before 1986 need POST training after a break in service?
The AG concluded that a peace officer first employed before 1986 who later left service and was rehired was subject to POST certification requirements. The POST Council had authority to amend its…
How many vacation days did a Louisiana firefighter use for a 24-hour shift?
The AG concluded that a Natchitoches firefighter taking off a 24-hour shift running from 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. used two statutory vacation days, because the governing law counted calendar days rather…
Could a juvenile detention center assistant director also serve as a Louisiana parish police juror?
The AG concluded that the Ware Youth Center assistant director could run for police juror, but could not hold both roles if the Natchitoches Parish Police Jury transferred money to the center's…
Did the 2005 petition to recall Port Vincent alderman David Carter have enough valid signatures?
No. The AG said the petition to recall David Carter, Port Vincent's alderman, lacked enough valid signatures for the governor to order a recall election. The registrar certified 97 qualified…
Did the 2005 petition to recall Port Vincent alderman Jeffery Scott Martone have enough valid signatures?
No. The AG said the petition to recall Jeffery Scott Martone, Port Vincent's alderman, lacked enough valid signatures for the governor to order a recall election. The registrar certified 98…
Did the 2005 petition to recall Port Vincent mayor Laura Savoy have enough valid signatures?
No. The AG said the petition to recall Laura Savoy, Port Vincent's mayor, lacked enough valid signatures for the governor to order a recall election. The registrar certified 98 qualified electors…
Could a Louisiana village pay to extend water service outside its limits for residents who could not afford it?
The AG said Calvin could not simply use public money to extend water service to private homes beyond village limits. It could do so through a social-welfare program for needy residents if the…
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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.