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 an injured firefighter apply for disability benefits after losing retirement-system membership?
The AG said an injured former member with no deferred annuity was ineligible to apply after more than 18 months away from service, because the statute ended membership then. Being injured while…
Could Louisiana clerks of court receive the full 2003 annual salary increase even though Act 157 took effect in August?
The AG said the salary increases authorized as 'annual compensation' could be established for January 1 through December 31, 2003 without proration from Act 157's August effective date. It relied on…
Could a Louisiana college employee receive a cash payout for unused annual leave after transferring to another state university system?
The AG said the employee could not demand an immediate lump-sum payout merely because the new system declined to accept annual leave. The leave could be held until the employee left state service,…
Was a St. Martin Parish constable personally required to handle stray dogs every day?
The AG said the parish's full-time animal control officer had the primary dog-control role on the facts supplied. The police jury could delegate dog-seizure authority to a constable or another…
Could New Orleans Business and Industrial District sell state-funded property to raise cash?
The AG said the district's property-sale power depended on its purposes and funding agreements. He questioned a sale merely for cash flow and said a state bond-funded agreement very likely barred…
Could Natchitoches Parish's police jury refuse to fund raises for district court and district attorney staff?
The AG said the district court and district attorney could require the police jury to fund reasonable and necessary office expenses, including qualifying staff costs. It urged the three offices to…
After a tax sale, should the assessor put the property in the buyer's name or keep the delinquent owner's name?
The AG said the property should be assessed to the successful tax-sale purchaser after the tax deed was recorded, with subsequent tax notices sent to that purchaser. It quoted an earlier opinion…
Did a food bank director's spouse working for Baker's private auditor breach the city-food bank agreement?
No. The AG said the agreement barred city benefits for food bank personnel, but the director's spouse worked for a separate private accounting firm and was not food bank personnel. The marriage did…
Could an attorney serve part-time as an assistant district attorney in both St. John the Baptist Parish and Orleans Parish?
The AG said the two part-time assistant district attorney positions could be held together. The prohibition it quoted applied to two full-time appointive offices or jobs, and the opinion said the…
Could one person serve on both the England development district and Ward Nine recreation district boards?
The AG said yes on the supplied facts. The appointed, part-time seats belonged to separate political subdivisions, and the opinion identified no applicable dual-officeholding prohibition or…
Could Louisiana suspend a dentist's license for unpaid child support without a separate dental-board hearing?
The AG said the child-support suspension process met due process when the department gave the required delinquency notice and opportunity to object, and held an administrative hearing after a timely…
After Clarks changed from a village to a town, how many aldermen did its board need?
The AG said the newly classified town had to have five aldermen. The statute required five for a town, and its use of 'shall' made that number mandatory.
Could DeSoto Parish dissolve and reappoint the board of a waterworks district that included two towns?
The AG said the police jury could dissolve the district's board and reappoint commissioners within its seven appointment slots. Stonewall and Logansport retained one appointment each, and…
Could an elected Louisiana constable keep a parish road-supervisor job?
Yes. The AG treated the constable's elected ward and the parish employer as separate political subdivisions. The dual-officeholding ban on employment in the same subdivision therefore did not bar…
Could a fire district's assistant chief also serve on the board that employed him?
No. The AG said the employee and board positions were incompatible under Louisiana's dual-officeholding law, and the statute allowing extra pay for a board secretary-treasurer did not create an…
Who pays a private prosecutor appointed after a Louisiana district attorney is recused?
The AG concluded that a private lawyer appointed in the recused district attorney's place could be paid as a prosecution cost by the parish where the case proceeded. The appointing court would…
Could a Louisiana fire-protection tax pay for firefighters' meals, awards, flowers, and travel?
The AG allowed reasonable meals during substantial fire-department business or training, modest service awards, and necessary training travel with proportionate public benefit. He rejected…
Could Vernon Parish pay its coroner's expenses from a tax dedicated to the parish health unit?
No. The AG said the voter-approved tax was dedicated to the health unit and animal shelter, and neither that proposition nor the health-unit statute authorized using it for the coroner's expenses.
Could a Louisiana public hospital discount bills for uninsured patients who paid promptly?
The AG said Franklin Foundation Hospital's proposed prompt-pay discount for uninsured patients was not a prohibited donation of public assets. The hospital would receive the tangible benefit of…
Could Louisiana's education department pay interest owed on an employee's missed retirement contributions?
No. The AG said the statute assigned the employee's contributions and related compound interest to the employee, even though a state agency's error had prevented timely enrollment. Paying that…
Could an elected Louisiana constable also serve as a sheriff's deputy?
The AG said an elected constable could hold a part-time deputy position. A full-time deputy appointment was generally barred, subject to a narrow statutory exemption; the opinion did not determine…
Could a Louisiana village police chief give a police badge to someone who was not hired as an officer?
The AG found no authority for a chief to issue a police department badge to a person who had not been hired as an officer. The chief could issue an honorary commission without aldermen's approval,…
Could a Louisiana sheriff use forfeiture proceeds for drug enforcement rewards and staff pay?
Yes, for the uses described: drug enforcement rewards and pay for full-time or part-time staff doing strictly drug enforcement work, including related secretarial work. The AG required a connection…
Could a Nicholls State University recreation director also serve on the Lafourche Parish Council?
Yes, under the facts given. The AG said the director's planned teaching duties placed him in a professional educational capacity, allowing the exception to Louisiana's usual ban on holding local…
Did Louisiana's 25-year public-safety retirement option replace other LASERS retirement options?
No. The AG read the 25-years-of-service option for specified public-safety employees as an additional route, not their only route. He said the general LASERS eligibility options remained available,…
Could Louisiana's Legislative Auditor audit river port pilot commissions?
Yes, to the extent public funds were involved. The AG classified river port pilot commissions as quasi-public agencies because the legislature created them to perform a public purpose.
Could an elected Vernon Parish constable also work for the parish police jury?
Yes. The AG said the constable's elected office belonged to his ward, while the police jury job belonged to the parish, so the cited ban on employment in the same political subdivision did not apply.
Who could appoint separate lawyers when Lafourche Parish's council and president disagreed?
The AG said the Lafourche Parish district attorney was the parish governing body's regular counsel and could appoint attorneys for the council and president when their positions conflicted.
Could Louisiana Senate employees join LSU's health insurance pilot plan?
Yes, if the Office of Group Benefits approved the shared arrangement. The AG said the Senate and LSU were each authorized to provide employee health coverage and could participate together in the…
Could a New Roads council member also take a classified job with Louisiana's Department of Insurance?
The AG said a council member could not keep elected office if the insurance-department job was actually in the state civil service. A separate dual-officeholding exception might apply to a state job…
Could a watershed district board override new commissioners chosen by the parish police jury?
No. The AG said Jackson Parish's Police Jury alone appointed watershed district commissioners. It could choose replacements when terms expired, and the board had no authority to reject those appointments.
Could a Jefferson Parish juvenile court employee also work part time for its human services authority?
Yes. The AG concluded that the dual-employment provision barred two full-time government jobs, while the proposed human services authority position was part time.
Could Louisiana's DOTD privatize its interstate logo sign program and let a contractor keep costs from sign fees?
The AG said the logo statute did not authorize DOTD to privatize the program. If separate authorization were obtained, marketing and contracting for logo placements would be a service contract…
Could a Louisiana police juror work for a water district or serve on its board?
The AG drew a distinction: a police juror could not also be a water-district employee because the jury could abolish the district. The juror could serve as a district commissioner under the…
Could judges use the judicial expense fund to supplement a sheriff's bailiff salary?
Yes. The AG said the 27th Judicial District judges could use their judicial expense fund under an intergovernmental agreement with the sheriff to supplement a bailiff's salary for court security.…
How could Louisiana appropriate Millennium Trust earnings and hold school allocations from tobacco settlement money?
The AG said restricted Trust earnings became principal, school allocations held in the treasury stayed credited to their recipients, and the Louisiana Fund's $50 million deposit rule set a minimum…
Could a Louisiana waterworks district employee also serve on the parish police jury?
No. Although the AG said the parish and district were separate subdivisions for one dual-employment rule, he found the positions incompatible because the police jury could abolish the waterworks…
When did Louisiana's deadline start and end for a municipal police discipline investigation?
The AG said the investigation began when an authorized person started inquiry or evidence collection with possible discipline in view, and evidence gathering had to finish within the statute's…
Could Louisiana's private-investigator board require continuing education for license renewal?
Yes. The AG said the board's Rule 518, requiring eight hours of approved investigative education before renewal, fell within its statutory power to regulate practice and professional education. The…
Could a Ponchatoula mobile home be placed beside another dwelling under the ordinance's exception phrase?
Only if a municipal ordinance or state law specifically allowed the placement. The AG said the phrase 'except as otherwise provided' did not let private parties change the zoning prohibition by agreement.
Could a Louisiana school board tax auditor also serve on the parish council?
The AG found no dual-officeholding or incompatible-office bar to a school board sales-tax auditor serving on the parish council. He left the separate concern about confidential taxpayer information…
Could Louisiana registrar-of-voters employees join the League of Women Voters?
The AG said no. He treated League membership as prohibited political activity for registrars and their employees under the then-existing statute and civil-service provisions, whether the employee…
Could Louisiana reclassify the Village of Clarks as a town based on its population estimate?
The AG found that Clarks's submitted resolution and population estimate met the then-existing reclassification requirements. The estimate counted 1,053 residents, above the statutory threshold for a…
Did a Louisiana teacher have to work six years before using extended sick leave?
The AG said no. Under the statute he read, a teacher could use up to ninety days of extended sick leave even in the first year after regular sick leave was exhausted, subject to the statutory…
Could Harahan police accept patrol vehicles from a casino with sponsor decals attached?
The AG said Harahan's police department could accept the donated vehicles and equipment with sponsor and gambling-help decals. He emphasized that the casino lay outside the department's jurisdiction…
Could school board members vote on a lawsuit in which they or their families might recover money?
The AG said the public-contract-fraud statute required a case-by-case inquiry into whether a board member used office to secure public money for personal gain. He advised caution for members who…
Could someone demand direct access to a Louisiana town's computer network to inspect public records?
The AG said electronic communications about official business could be public records, but the town could provide access by another convenient means instead of letting a requester use its network…
Did a Louisiana state agency owe overtime or compensatory time to its contracted executive director?
The AG said an executive director performing bona fide executive work fell within the federal overtime exemption and that no state law required overtime. Whether this director's actual duties or an…
Could Louisiana's nursing board buy an office building under its power to establish offices?
No. The AG said the nursing board's authority to establish offices did not specifically authorize a purchase of immovable property. He also said the board lacked borrowing or debt authority to…
Could Caddo Parish Fire District Two's chief serve on the board that controlled its funds?
No. The AG said Caddo Fire District Two's chief could not also serve as a board commissioner because the board administered the district fund from which the chief was paid, making the two positions…
Could Carencro's former police chief be paid for unused leave after leaving office?
The AG said the chief should be paid for leave accrued and documented during his term if records showed it remained unused. He applied the rate provided for other municipal employees.
Could someone work part-time for both Simmesport and its housing authority?
The AG said the general dual-officeholding ban on two full-time jobs did not apply to the proposed pair of part-time positions. He could not decide whether the jobs were legally incompatible without…
Could Covington use a dedicated fire tax for something besides its ladder truck and station additions?
No. The AG said the special-tax proceeds could be used only for the purposes for which the tax was levied: an aerial ladder and additions to the fire station.
Could a Louisiana deputy sheriff own or direct a private security company?
The AG said a deputy could not own an interest in, be a stockholder or member of, or serve as director of a business providing law-enforcement services. A deputy could work for such a firm as an…
Could Morgan City firefighters and police officers buy, sell, or trade accrued compensatory leave?
The AG said the local fire and police civil service board could decide whether to allow the practice. If it did, the board had to adopt rules defining the transactions, their conditions, and the…
Could Louisiana use cash from one dedicated state fund to cover another fund's temporary shortfall?
For the two funds and temporary seed advance described, the AG found no specific prohibition and said the interfund transaction was permissible. He limited that answer to funds administered by the…
Could an Orleans Parish registrar join or be required to run a voter registration drive sponsored by political groups?
The AG said the registrar could use a mobile unit for a drive he deemed necessary, including a jointly sponsored drive, only if participation did not violate the ban on political activity. No…
Could a Louisiana clerk withhold a pauper plaintiff's signed divorce judgment until court costs were paid?
No. For a plaintiff properly certified to proceed without prepaying costs, the AG said the clerk could not hold the signed judgment pending payment. After processing it, the clerk could seek the…
Could Ouachita Parish deny a building permit over safety concerns near a school bus route and canal?
The AG said the police jury could determine publicly whether the described hazards justified denying the permit as a public-safety measure. Its existing property-standards ordinance applied to built…
Could Lafourche Parish's budget take effect automatically after hearings lacked proper notice?
No. The AG concluded that the proposed 2003 budget was neither adopted nor finalized because the two public hearings failed the Local Government Budget Act's notice requirements. The parish…
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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.