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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How did Louisiana calculate a withdrawing candidate's qualifying-fee refund when a clerk's fee applied?
The AG selected the method that first halved the qualifying fee, then subtracted the additional clerk fee. In the request's $300 fee and $30 clerk-fee example, the refund was $120 under the 2000 law.
Must a Louisiana town close its offices when its municipal building serves as a polling place?
No. The AG said the municipal offices could keep regular hours during voting. The mayor could not close them for the election without board of aldermen action, and a candidate official could go to…
Could missing information or signatures on a Louisiana absentee ballot envelope lead to a ballot challenge?
In 2000, the AG said missing certificate blanks, a voter signature, or required witness or notary authentication supported a challenge for cause. An undated witness or notary signature alone did…
Could a parish school board's sales-tax auditor also serve on the parish council?
The AG said yes. The parish and school board were separate political subdivisions, and the board's tax collections for the parish were not funds received by the council member's office.
Could Louisiana risk rate St. Landry school employees' state health premiums when most chose the state plan?
No on the stated facts. The AG said R.S. 42:881 controlled over the older one-year school board rule, and St. Landry employees participating in the state plan should not be risk rated because a…
Could a Louisiana mayor also practice law, serve as city attorney, or work part-time as an assistant district attorney?
The AG said the dual officeholding law did not bar a mayor's private law practice or a part-time assistant district attorney appointment. It did bar the mayor from also serving as city attorney…
Did St. Martin Parish's new charter force a councilman off boards he already served on?
The AG said the charter's new restriction did not apply retroactively to the councilman's existing fixed board terms. He also found his two part-time board seats compatible under the dual…
Could a Louisiana registrar request citizenship proof after receiving a foreign-born applicant's DMV voter form?
The AG said the registrar had to mail the statutory notice seeking information required by R.S. 18:105 when a DMV application showed foreign birth but lacked citizenship proof. The 2000 opinion…
Which Entergy electricity sales counted toward Richwood's franchise fee?
The AG read Richwood's agreement to exclude electricity sold to government agencies while including sales to nonprofit organizations and commercial customers within town limits.
Could a Westwego councilman also direct Jefferson Parish's home incarceration program?
The AG said yes on the stated facts: the parish director job was a part-time appointive office in another political subdivision. He added that even if it were employment, it would be outside the…
Did St. Mary Parish have to pay utility bills for a sheriff's substation in Morgan City?
Yes. The AG concluded that the parish council had to provide utilities for the sheriff's substation because the sheriff could open the office and R.S. 33:4713 required the parish to provide needed…
Could Louisiana's agriculture department keep voluntarily supplied trade secrets and business data confidential?
The AG said the specified trade secrets and commercial information were exempt under the cited Louisiana provisions when obtained through a voluntary agreement that designated them confidential and…
Could Louisiana's state employee benefits board risk rate school board premiums under its one-year rule?
The AG said the later statute, La. R. S. 42:881, controlled risk-rated premiums for school boards, despite the board's older one-year rule and its failure to adopt a new rule. The statutory…
Could Ferriday housing tenants appoint their own commissioner to the local housing authority?
No. The AG said Ferriday tenants and the housing authority director could not appoint a commissioner or issue an appointment certificate; the municipal chief elected official held the appointment…
Was Louisiana's reenacted polling-place campaign-free-zone law enforceable after a state court struck down its earlier version?
The AG said the 1995 reenacted version of R.S. 18:1462(A) was presumed valid and enforceable until a court with jurisdiction declared it unconstitutional, despite the earlier Louisiana Supreme Court…
Could Shreveport guarantee part of a private developer's construction loan for a riverfront project?
No. The AG said Shreveport's proposed guarantee of a private developer's bank loan would donate the city's credit in violation of Article VII, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution.
Could Plaquemines Parish use public money to buy gifts for retiring employees?
No. The AG said the parish had no legal obligation to buy the gifts, so the purchases would be prohibited donations of public funds under Article 7, Section 14(A) of the Louisiana Constitution.
Could a trucking company pay to upgrade Louisiana's truck permit billing system?
Yes. The AG said DOTD could accept the upgrade if the donated software and equipment became DOTD's unconditionally and the digital billing capability served all permit customers, rather than only…
Could a Louisiana mayor also serve on the state Board of Regents?
Yes. The AG classified a Board of Regents seat as a part-time appointive state office, which the cited dual officeholding prohibition did not bar alongside a municipal mayor's elected office.
Could a Lafayette Parish councilman also serve on Louisiana's fluoridation and rural development advisory boards?
The AG said yes under the dual officeholding law examined in 2000. The fluoridation seat was a part-time state appointment, and the rural development board was solely advisory; neither prevented…
Could the Beauregard Parish communications district adopt and run its own budget?
Yes. The AG concluded that the district, as a political subdivision, could adopt and administer its own budget, subject to the Louisiana Local Government Budget Act.
Could a Louisiana police department pay a vet bill for a privately owned horse that died on mounted patrol?
The AG said Monroe could pay the veterinary bill because the certified horse and officer were on official mounted-patrol duty, and the expense served the department's public safety purpose.
Could a Louisiana village alderman also serve as a paid fire district chief while working 35 hours a week?
The AG said the elected alderman could not also hold the appointed fire chief position if it was full time. He treated the expected schedule of at least seven hours a day and 35 hours a week as full…
Could a Louisiana parish council member take a temporary full-time job with the U.S. Census Bureau?
The AG said no. The then-current dual officeholding law barred an elected local official from simultaneous federal government employment, and the opinion found no exception for a temporary Census…
Could an elected Vernon Parish police juror also serve on the Sabine River Authority?
The AG said yes because the authority's commissioner role was a part-time appointment. The dual officeholding ban he applied covered an elected local official's simultaneous full-time state…
Could a Louisiana town cut the pay of an appointed police chief filling a vacancy before a newly elected chief took office?
The 1999 opinion said the town could not reduce the interim chief's pay during the existing elected term. It could set a lower salary by ordinance for the newly elected chief if it acted before the…
Could Webster Parish create a public museum, and could its library board pay for it with library funds?
The 1999 opinion said the parish police jury could establish and fund a public museum in a parish-owned building. It said the library board lacked authority to establish a museum or spend funds…
Could the Port of South Louisiana extend an unclassified employee's contract beyond two years or pay more than 75% of its director's salary?
The 1999 opinion said no. The executive director could renew an unclassified employee's contract, but each contract had to stay within the statutory two-year term and 75%-of-director-salary limits;…
What election steps did a Louisiana town need for a Sunday alcohol-sales restriction?
The 1999 opinion said a town could propose a Sunday restriction for voter approval under the cited local-option statute. The governing authority had to draft the proposition within the…
When could a Louisiana justice of the peace set or change bail in a criminal case?
The 1998 opinion said a justice of the peace could initially set bail within territorial jurisdiction for offenses that were not capital or necessarily punishable by hard labor, if a judge or…
Could a Louisiana school bus driver also serve as an elected school board member?
The 1998 opinion said no. It treated the bus driver's job and the school board seat as employment and elective office in the same political subdivision, a combination the dual officeholding statute…
Could a Louisiana parish create voting precincts with fewer than 300 registered voters?
The 1998 opinion said a parish police jury could create a precinct below 300 registered voters only if a statutory exception applied. It declined to decide whether Avoyelles Parish's proposed…
Could a Cameron Parish water board accumulate a surplus from customer water fees?
The 1998 opinion allowed a reasonable, occasional surplus incidental to water service operations. It warned that a charge aimed chiefly at raising revenue, or clearly and materially above the…
Could Louisiana's cosmetology board bar beauty-school students from working or even visiting licensed salons?
The 1998 opinion did not decide whether the board's broad salon restriction was valid. It said the answer required factual findings about the rule's connection to a legitimate public purpose and…
Did the Oil City police chief recall petition have enough valid signatures to trigger an election?
The 1998 attorney general opinion accepted the registrar's certification of 212 qualified signatures and said the Governor should call a special election on recalling Oil City's police chief.
Could Louisiana authorize a Carencro vote on racetrack slot machines and let the town tax gaming proceeds?
The 1998 opinion said the legislature could authorize a local gaming election and a local tax under specified constitutional conditions. Existing Act 721 did not cover Lafayette Parish or Carencro,…
Could a Louisiana town police chief receive extra pay per traffic ticket or a monthly sheriff payment?
The 1998 opinion found no authority for a traffic-ticket percentage and said the town board had to establish the chief's compensation by ordinance. It lacked enough facts to decide the…
Did Louisiana police officers have to take leave to run for chief of police, especially if a coworker took leave?
The 1998 opinion said the officers did not have to take leave just to run, and one candidate's decision to take leave did not require the others to do so. It warned against campaign activity…
Could a Sunset police officer run for chief of police without resigning or taking leave?
The 1998 opinion said an eligible officer could qualify and campaign while remaining employed. Leave or resignation was not automatically required, but campaign activity could not prevent the…
Was a Louisiana school board's special-meeting vote invalid because it broke the board's reconsideration rules?
The 1998 opinion said the Franklin Parish board broke its own reconsideration rules, but that alone did not make the vote illegal. A separate Open Meetings Law notice defect could make the action…
Could Kenner vote on a municipal civil service system and a tax to fund it on the same ballot?
The 1998 opinion said Kenner could use the constitution's local-option process and could put a funding millage on the same ballot as a separate proposition with the required purpose and duration. If…
Could a Louisiana public university hire its own CPA firm for a financial examination?
The 1998 opinion said a university management board could hire an independent CPA firm and could delegate that authority. An institution could also hire one absent a contrary board policy, subject…
Could a former Ferriday employee collect five years of unused annual leave despite a ten-day carryover limit?
The 1998 opinion said the employee was due at most ten days under Ferriday's ordinance, assuming that rule had not changed during her employment. The town could define the benefit by ordinance, but…
Could Ascension Parish transfer a rural-development grant or purchased land to its airport authority?
The 1998 opinion said either route could fulfill the grant's stated purpose and serve a public purpose. It did not decide whether the public benefit was proportionate to the expenditure; the…
Could Louisiana district judges designate the duty judge to sign wiretap orders?
The 1998 opinion said a vote designating the duty judge for electronic surveillance orders did not seem to violate the statute if only one eligible elected judge served in that role. An appointed…
Did Louisiana's Good Samaritan law protect a volunteer using a defibrillator, and did a crowded venue have to provide one?
The 1998 opinion said the general Good Samaritan statute protected a gratuitous AED rescuer when its conditions were met. The office knew of no legislation then requiring crowded venues to provide…
Could the Allen Parish Tourist Commission pay to create events, or only promote attractions?
The 1998 opinion distinguished promotion from creating an attraction. It treated a promotional radio show as within the commission's role, canoe purchases needed to hold a race as event creation,…
Could a Leesville city council member keep a part-time job as deputy city marshal?
The 1998 opinion said no. The marshal's office received fines that were paid into the city's treasury, making the council position and deputy marshal job incompatible under the cited dual-office rule.
Could a Louisiana registrar of voters remain qualified in her parish if she spent more time at her spouse's home in another parish?
The 1998 opinion said this St. Helena Parish registrar remained a resident and qualified voter there. She maintained a home with a homestead exemption in the parish and was registered to vote there,…
Could a Louisiana veterinarian put outside laboratory charges on an invoice and provide the lab's details only if the client asks?
The 1998 opinion said no. If a veterinarian used an outside lab and passed its charges to a client, the invoice itself had to disclose the lab's name and address and the net amount paid or payable…
Could a Louisiana parish award a simple equipment bid immediately and accept a wholesaler's low bid?
The 1998 opinion found no Public Bid Law violation in the immediate award of this simple equipment contract. It said the low bid could not be rejected merely because the supplier was a wholesaler…
Could a Louisiana city marshal use court-cost funds to match employees' deferred-compensation contributions?
The 1998 opinion said the Ruston marshal could pay the employer portion of a voluntary supplemental retirement plan from the office's dedicated court-cost account. Its enclosed earlier opinion…
Did a Louisiana alderman candidate have to live in the ward for a full year before qualifying?
The 1998 opinion said no fixed period of ward residence was stated. It said the candidate had to be a ward resident, while the one-year domicile and actual-residence requirement applied to the…
Could Louisiana's Insurance Department set leave rules for its unclassified employees despite a governor's order?
The 1998 opinion said yes. Executive Order MJF 96-79 excepted systems authorized by law to manage and supervise themselves, and the office read the Insurance Commissioner's statutory authority as…
Could LaSalle Parish use a courthouse property tax to replace the parish library roof?
The 1998 opinion said no. Voters dedicated the tax to improving, maintaining, and operating the courthouse; the attorney general said that wording did not cover the library roof.
Could a Louisiana gas utility district give senior citizens a lower rate for the same service?
The 1998 attorney general opinion said no. Charging other customers more for the same gas service solely because they were not senior citizens was impermissible age discrimination under the state…
Could Zwolle's mayor inspect police department files for traffic cases in the mayor's court?
The 1998 opinion said direct review of unfiled citation evidence would generally be improper for the mayor acting as judge. The police department instead had to deposit traffic citations with the…
Could a Louisiana justice of the peace join the parochial employees' retirement system?
The 1998 opinion left membership to the retirement system's board, which had statutory authority to decide doubtful employee-status questions. It also said justices of the peace did not belong to…
Could a Louisiana Supreme Court justice serve on the State Justice Institute board?
The 1998 attorney general opinion found no Louisiana law barring that service. It treated the Institute board as a part-time, unpaid appointment to a private nonprofit rather than a prohibited…
How long did a Louisiana justice of the peace have to keep public records?
The 1998 opinion said at least three years from the date a record was made. The statute it quoted gave approved retention schedules priority and set a three-year minimum where no formal schedule had…
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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.