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 full-time Louisiana municipal police officer work part time for another law enforcement agency?
The 1998 attorney general opinion said yes under the dual employment statute it quoted. It said the combination became prohibited if both public jobs were full time.
Could a full-time Louisiana state employee teach part time at a state university?
The 1998 attorney general opinion said yes under the dual employment law it quoted. The prohibition applied if both public positions were full time.
Could a Louisiana planning commission executive director also serve on a parish school board?
The 1998 opinion said yes for the positions described. It treated the executive director role as employment rather than an appointive office, and the planning commission and school board as separate…
Could a full-time Louisiana deputy constable also work part time for a school board or sewerage board?
The 1998 opinion said the state's dual employment law allowed the combination if the second job was part time. It assumed the deputy constable appointment was full time and limited its answer to that law.
Could a Louisiana waterworks district lease water tower space for cellular antennas without public bidding?
The 1998 opinion said the district could lease tank space, but the lease had to follow the public bidding requirements for public land. It treated the water tank as an improvement covered by that law.
Could the Louisiana Legislature correct errors in the school funding formula sent to it for approval?
The 1998 opinion said the Legislature could make the specific technical corrections BESE requested to match the formula BESE had already adopted. It could not itself substitute a substantively…
Could Louisiana's private security board buy land for an office without the state capital outlay process?
The 1998 opinion said no. The board's power to acquire property did not excuse it from the state capital outlay procedures, and the commissioner of administration had to participate in a state…
Did the Rapides Parish Coliseum Authority have to bid its proposed hockey league agreement?
The 1998 opinion said no for the proposed agreement. It treated the hockey league's use and improvement of the coliseum as a facility-use contract authorized by the authority's special act, rather…
Could the spouse of a Louisiana Board of Pharmacy investigator serve on that board?
The 1998 opinion found no statute that automatically prohibited the marriage-based arrangement. It nevertheless urged withdrawal of the prospective board member's name from the election, through…
Could a Louisiana political subdivision invest public funds in a mutual fund organized as a Massachusetts business trust that holds Treasury repurchase agreements?
At the time of this 1997 opinion, the AG concluded yes, a political subdivision could invest in such a mutual fund, including one with multiple share classes, as long as all classes represented an…
Could a Louisiana assistant district attorney also serve part time on a parish hospital board?
Yes. In 1997 the Louisiana AG concluded that a full-time assistant district attorney could also hold a part-time appointive seat on the Terrebonne Parish Hospital Service District board. The dual…
Could Louisiana extend its Medicaid claims processing contract for less than a year?
The AG concluded that extensions of the specified Medicaid fiscal intermediary contract had to be for twelve months, not shorter increments. He said the state's contract could include a clause…
Could a Louisiana hospital service district sell surplus land directly to a physician for a nearby medical practice?
The AG concluded that a hospital service district could negotiate a private sale of surplus land to a physician building a nearby practice. He said the district should declare the land surplus and…
Did the Cheneyville mayor recall petition have enough signatures to trigger an election?
Yes. The AG said the registrar's 231 certified valid signatures exceeded the 40% required in a voting area with 496 electors, so the governor could proclaim a recall election.
Are property owners' objections to two parish street projects counted together or street by street?
Street by street. The AG said each road was a separate project for measuring written objections by owners of more than half the assessed frontage. An objection on one street did not automatically…
Could a Louisiana judge sign a final judgment electronically under the law discussed in Opinion 13-0158?
The AG said no under the statutes it reviewed: none authorized electronic signatures on judgments, and the electronic-transactions law excluded court orders. It identified separate statutory…
Could Louisiana’s wholesale drug distributor board buy the office building it occupied?
The AG concluded that the Board of Wholesale Drug Distributors lacked authority to buy immovable property because its enabling statutes did not expressly grant that power.
Could Cameron Parish use its courthouse-and-jail tax to operate nearby annex buildings?
The AG concluded that the voter-approved tax for maintaining and operating the Cameron Parish Courthouse and Jail could not be used for other buildings, including the annexes and temporary offices…
Could Rayne restrict take-home police vehicles and split an officer's week between paid and volunteer hours?
The AG said Rayne could regulate personal use of city police vehicles, but not interfere with the chief's law-enforcement authority or treat an on-call officer's trip home as personal use. It found…
Who appointed a replacement after a Reeves village alderman resigned?
The AG concluded that the remaining Reeves aldermen, not the mayor, had to appoint a qualified replacement within the statutory period. The mayor could vote only to break a tie; if a tie persisted…
Could an elected parish school-board member also work part time as an assistant district attorney?
The AG concluded that dual-officeholding law did not prohibit an elected parish school-board member from also serving as a part-time assistant district attorney. The opinion said that assistant…
Could a Louisiana school board trade a 99-year lease of Section 16 land for tribal land to build a school?
No. The AG said St. Mary Parish's school board could not use the proposed 99-year lease, land exchange, or cooperative agreement with the Chitimacha Tribe for its Section 16 tract. It suggested…
Did St. Landry Parish have to bid out a bond counsel contract?
The AG said St. Landry Parish did not have to use the Public Bid Law to hire a bond attorney because legal services were service contracts. The parish government could retain bond counsel under a…
Could the Lafourche Parish sheriff sell surplus equipment through an online auction site?
The AG concluded that, absent specific legislation, the Lafourche sheriff was not authorized to sell surplus movable property through an internet auction site. It directed the sheriff to the…
Could Plaquemines Parish use emergency bidding rules to build a safer temporary courthouse after Katrina?
Yes on the facts described. The AG said the makeshift courthouse’s present safety and security risks amounted to an emergency permitting the statutory emergency procedures for temporary courthouse…
Could a Louisiana water district invite public bids for billing services, reject both, then hire the higher bidder without rebidding?
The AG said the Public Bid Law did not require bidding for this service contract, but the water district had chosen a public-bid process and was bound by its own solicitation. Any rejection of bids…
Could Tallulah's city council limit employee travel by resolution, and what mileage rate applied to the mayor?
The AG said Tallulah's adopted budget ordinance controlled the mayor's and council's authority to change travel spending, and a budget amendment had to be made by ordinance at an open council…
How did Louisiana school boards calculate and distribute teacher pay from sick-leave savings?
The AG said school boards compared each year's leave spending with the statutory three-year average to identify savings for teacher compensation. For 2003–04, the comparison used the 1996–99…
Did a person held as incompetent to stand trial have to register as a sex offender when released to the community?
On the specific facts in this 2004 opinion, no. The AG said unresolved charges and a delay caused by incompetence were not a guilty plea, conviction, or deferred or withheld adjudication under the…
Could Terrebonne assistant district attorneys privately contract to provide part-time legal services to the parish?
Yes under the dual-officeholding law as the AG applied it. The AG assumed the lawyers' firms would hold contracts with the parish, so the second role was contractual rather than a second public…
Was the LSU-Tulane cancer research center a private entity, and which law governed bonds issued for it?
The AG said the center met the statute's private-entity criteria. Bonds issued solely under the HEAL Act followed that act; bonds issued under the Capital Outlay Act followed it, and citing both…
Could Livingston Parish put its voter-approved mosquito control fee on the assessor's tax rolls?
Yes, if the assessor and mosquito district made a mutually agreeable arrangement and tax-roll collection would assist the district. The AG said the assessor was not required to carry the fee.
Who paid Louisiana election expenses for justice of the peace and constable races?
The AG said the parish police jury or council was the local entity responsible for its prorated share of expenses for those ward and district elections, as the Department of State had billed it.
Could Nicholls State University pay for retiree breakfasts, faculty-spouse events, or an employee holiday meal?
No, according to this 2003 Louisiana AG opinion. The university identified possible benefits from the events, but the AG found no legal obligation or authority to spend public funds on the proposed…
Were two-wheeled electric scooters vehicles under Louisiana traffic law, and could cities regulate them?
Yes for the scooters described. The AG classified them as vehicles, said local traffic ordinances could govern roads within municipal authority, and explained that sidewalks were for pedestrians…
Could a state employee run a private organization during paid state work hours or use state equipment for it?
The cited dual-employment rule created no conflict with serving as a private executive director. The AG said private-organization work during state business hours or use of state equipment violated…
Could a Louisiana state agency create a nonprofit to perform services the agency normally performs?
The AG said an agency could establish such a nonprofit if it had express or implied authority and complied with the statutory restriction on corporations that may issue debt. The opinion did not…
How did Jefferson Parish have to deliver a last-week bid addendum to contractors who requested bid documents?
For an addendum issued within the statute's seven-day window, the parish had to send it to every requesting prime bidder by fax, email, or hand delivery within 24 hours, and also by regular mail.…
Could a Louisiana clerk commission one election watcher to serve in more than one precinct?
Yes. The AG said La. R.S. 18:435 did not bar commissioning one watcher for multiple precincts, and an earlier opinion did not limit those precincts to the same polling place.
Could a parish assessor list Secret Service agents anonymously on public property-tax rolls?
The AG said no. The rolls were public records, and the cited privacy exception for certified law-enforcement officers applied only to records held by voter registrars or the secretary of state, not…
What happens to Education Excellence Fund money credited to a school that closes or loses eligibility before receiving it?
The AG said the money remained state-owned while in the treasury, but existing allocation rules could strand it under an ineligible school's credit. The opinion called for legislative action and…
Must Sulphur hold a binding vote on a zoning ordinance after a valid charter referendum petition and council refusal?
Yes, on the charter excerpts supplied. The AG said that if the petition met the signature and procedural rules and the council refused to act, Sulphur had to put passage or repeal of the zoning…
Did a town alderwoman commit public-contract fraud by placing town money in a bank where she was a branch manager?
The AG said the described certificate of deposit did not fit the cited fraud statutes on the facts given: the principal remained withdrawable and the alderwoman received no commission. Ethical…
When buying vehicles, did Capital Area Human Services District follow public bid rules or Louisiana's state fleet program?
The AG classified the district as a political subdivision, so it followed the Louisiana Public Bid Law for vehicle purchases and was outside the State Fleet Management Program's stated scope.
Does an elected Louisiana justice of the peace receive additional pay when temporarily assigned to a vacant ward?
Yes. The AG said the assigned justice was entitled to at least the assigned court's compensation and supplemental pay in addition to his existing salary, subject to the statute's funding condition…
Could a livestock owner be prosecuted for trespass while retrieving escaped animals from someone else's land?
The AG said the new trespass law included an affirmative defense for a livestock owner or agent retrieving domestic livestock escaped from a fenced area. It also concluded the law accommodated…
Could a Louisiana school board regulate students' possession of cell phones at school after state law addressed their use?
Yes. The AG said the state law regulated unauthorized use or operation, without deciding possession, so a local school board could address possession in its student code of conduct if the rule…
Could private supporters create a nonprofit foundation to raise money for the Orleans Parish district attorney's office?
The AG found no legal impediment to creating the separate nonprofit. Louisiana's public-funds donation ban did not prevent a public office from receiving donated money, but the AG referred ethical…
Could an Iberia public hospital indemnify its private manager for negligence and reimburse a CEO incentive bonus?
An indemnity covering someone else's negligence would violate the cited public-contract statute; the AG could not tell whether the hospital otherwise had a legal duty to indemnify. The proposed CEO…
Did Louisiana's new criminal-bond fee law require municipal police departments to collect the fee?
No. The AG read R.S. 15:85.1 as assigning collection of the criminal-bond fee to parish sheriffs, not municipalities.
Could a parish tax assessor fund a town building for a satellite assessor's office?
The AG said a satellite assessor's office was authorized and that the proposed funding could be allowed for a public purpose through a cooperative endeavor with the town. Counsel for both offices…
Are St. Tammany hospital district nominating committee members appointed officials, and are they personally liable for nominations?
The AG classified the committee members as appointed officials and applied a good-faith limit on their individual liability for official policy judgments, absent willful or wanton misconduct.
Can a Louisiana town alderman also manage a private nonprofit water system?
Louisiana's dual officeholding law did not apply to the alderman's reported private water-system job. The AG sent the separate ethics questions to the Louisiana Board of Ethics.
Must Avoyelles Parish use its garbage sales tax to pay for a school board's pickup beyond the seven-bag limit?
No automatic entitlement followed from the tax vote. The police jury could set the amount of collection paid with tax proceeds, including the seven-bag limit, if it used the money for the…
Could St. John the Baptist Parish give loans or aid to uninsured residents whose homes were lost in a tornado?
The AG said the parish could not simply provide those loans or payments from public funds. It could establish a genuine social-welfare program for needy disaster victims, using objective criteria to…
Could Franklin Parish choose one private ambulance provider without facing federal antitrust liability?
State law could not bar a federal antitrust suit. The AG said Louisiana's authorization appeared to satisfy one part of the state-action immunity test, but whether active state supervision existed…
Could the Iberia Parish clerk of court give employees annual salary supplements when funds were available?
Yes, if the supplements were earned salary increases for future work. The AG said the clerk could not give an unearned bonus for past service and recommended putting the funding condition in each…
Could the Plaquemines Parish sheriff contract with the port district to provide security funded by its shipping tariff?
The AG said the sheriff could enter the proposed cooperative endeavor for additional port security if the services were part of the sheriff's legal duties, served a public purpose, were related to…
Could a Louisiana juvenile court impose a juror fee after a delinquency adjudication?
The AG said the fee for criminal defendants should not be imposed after a juvenile delinquency adjudication. Juvenile adjudications are not criminal convictions, and the opinion noted that juvenile…
Could a Louisiana state employee insurance vendor without an A.M. Best rating keep receiving payroll deductions?
Under the law examined in 2003, the AG said DINA/Guaranty could keep its payroll deduction approval under a grandfather clause if it met the earlier rules. The AG also considered it appropriate for…
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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.