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 Louisiana's Energy and Power Authority sell electricity and meter-management services to a Mississippi town?
Yes. The Louisiana AG said the authority could sell wholesale power to municipalities in other states and provide the supporting SCADA electric-meter services described in the request.
Can a full-time St. Landry Parish Solid Waste Disposal District employee serve on the St. Landry Parish Council?
Yes. The opinion states that the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law does not prohibit a full-time employee of the St. Landry Parish Solid Waste Disposal District from serving on the St.…
May Bogalusa's part-time city attorney also serve in the Louisiana House of Representatives?
The Louisiana AG said the dual-officeholding law did not prohibit that combination because Bogalusa's city attorney was a part-time appointive officer. The opinion did not decide whether the state…
Could Acadia Parish fund private broadband projects through GUMBO without triggering Louisiana's Fair Competition Act?
Yes, if the parish funded eligible projects through the GUMBO program. The Louisiana AG said that program's statutory exception prevented the funding from counting as a covered-service partnership…
Can Sorrento pay its planning commission members a per diem for attending meetings?
No. The Louisiana AG said the statute required Sorrento's municipal planning commissioners to serve without compensation, and the town did not fall within an exception.
Can a Rapides Parish school-board member also serve on Louisiana's dentistry board?
Yes under the state's dual officeholding law as applied here. The AG classified the elected school-board seat and part-time appointed dentistry-board seat as a combination La. R.S. 42:63(D) did not…
Can a part-time Louisiana Senate aide also consult for a private airport managers' nonprofit?
The Louisiana AG said the Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law does not prohibit the described combination. The aide's other role was a contract consultant for a private nonprofit; the opinion…
Did Louisiana's AG find Plaquemine's proposed charter changes for appointing city officers lawful?
Yes. The AG reviewed Plaquemine's proposed amendments on selection and duties of city officers, including its city attorney and prosecutor, and found them consistent with state and federal law under…
Was St. Martinville's charter amendment dividing secretary-treasurer duties between a clerk and finance officer lawful?
The Louisiana AG found the proposed special-charter amendment consistent with state and federal law. It would assign council recordkeeping to a city clerk and treasury, accounting and tax-collection…
Did Louisiana's firefighter vacation statute apply to Denham Springs even though the city had fewer than 13,000 residents?
Yes. Following a state appellate decision, the Louisiana AG said the 13,000-person threshold in one statutory subpart did not limit the firefighter vacation provision in another. It recalled earlier…
Did Louisiana's AG approve the updated election expense manual for clerks and parish election boards?
Yes. The AG found the submitted changes to the Election Expense Manual compliant with Louisiana law and approved the form for printing and distribution. Its approval was expressly limited to the…
Did Louisiana's AG approve the summaries for four proposed constitutional amendments on the November 2023 ballot?
Yes. The AG reviewed and approved the summaries associated with 2022 Act 278 and 2023 Acts 199, 179, and 198 for printing and distribution. The opinion does not reproduce or analyze the amendments…
Could Avoyelles Parish's sheriff pay for hurricane-damaged jail repairs near the 2023 governor election despite the spending cap?
Yes, on the facts presented. The Louisiana AG said the emergency exception applied to repairs necessitated by the declared disasters, and that extraordinary roof and interior repairs were outside…
What happened to donated drainage property and service area when St. Tammany's Meadowbrook subdistrict dissolved?
The Louisiana AG said the donated property rights had to be disposed of under the drainage-district dissolution statute. The encompassing Gravity Drainage District No. 5 could exercise drainage…
Could one person work part time for both the Lake Providence Port Commission and a railroad district?
Yes, on the facts supplied. The Louisiana AG said the dual-employment provision barred combinations involving full-time positions, but did not prohibit these two part-time jobs. The opinion left…
Could the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation District's full-time director also hold an elected Louisiana state office?
No. The Louisiana AG said the district director was a full-time employee of a political subdivision, and the dual-officeholding law barred that employment alongside an elected state office. The…
Could St. Landry Parish pay to improve a private drainage ditch that benefited only one landowner?
No. The Louisiana AG said public spending on the ditch, or litigation to acquire a right-of-way for it, would be a prohibited donation when only the adjacent owner benefited.
Did Louisiana's AG approve the summaries of four constitutional amendments for the October 2023 ballot?
Yes. The AG reviewed summaries for amendments resulting from Acts 200, 30, 107 and 48 of the 2023 Regular Session and approved them for printing and distribution for the October 14, 2023 election.
Could a Louisiana notary keep notarizing in Jefferson Parish after moving to Mississippi?
No. The Louisiana AG said moving out of state ended the notary's residency qualification and invalidated her commission. A provision for certain nonresident Louisiana lawyers did not apply to the…
Can a full-time St. Bernard Parish deputy sheriff also serve as a parish constable?
No. The attorney general classified the full-time deputy sheriff as holding an appointive office and the Ward I constable as holding elective office. Louisiana's dual-officeholding law barred those…
How should Caldwell Parish divide its voter-dedicated industrial park and 911 property tax?
The Louisiana AG said Caldwell Parish had reversed the allocation approved by voters. The tax should fund a $50,000 industrial-park reserve, with the remaining proceeds going to 911; the parish…
Could Bastrop's mayor name an interim city attorney without council consent, and must executive session appear on the agenda?
The Louisiana AG said Bastrop's mayor could not bypass council consent by naming an interim city attorney. The council generally did not need to label an agenda item as an executive session, but it…
Could Bogalusa's mayor put GPS trackers in police vehicles or spyware on police computers?
No. The Louisiana AG concluded that real-time police-vehicle tracking and computer keyloggers would intrude on law-enforcement responsibilities reserved to Bogalusa's appointed police chief under…
What is the legal relationship between a Louisiana parish library board and the police jury that created it, and who controls the budget, property, and contracts?
The library board is an agency of the police jury, not an independent body. The police jury approves and can line-item-veto the library board's proposed budget (with limits on changing library…
Could Louisiana's pardon board waive its capital-clemency application period using a procedure-waiver rule?
No. The AG said Rule 213(M)'s waiver of procedures in that rule did not reach Rule 203(E)'s one-year eligibility period for capital-clemency applications. The opinion also said the broad waiver…
Could Louisiana's river-pilot oversight board investigate a pilot who also served on a pilot commissioners' board?
It could investigate that person's conduct as a pilot, the Louisiana AG said, but lacked authority to investigate conduct in the person's official board-member capacity. The AG left classification…
What counts as 'kept up, maintained, or worked' in Louisiana's tacit road dedication statute, and can a parish set its own rule by ordinance?
It's a case-by-case factual question. Louisiana courts have not drawn a bright line for what level of road work satisfies La. R.S. 48:491(B)(1)(a). A parish police jury can pass an ordinance setting…
Could Oil City put a mayor's court failure-to-appear fine in its general fund, and was a separate hearing needed?
The Louisiana AG said the contempt fine was separate from the original offense and went to the town treasury. The defendant had to be heard before a direct-contempt finding, but that opportunity…
Could a full-time Iberville Parish School Board employee serve on the parish's elected council?
Yes, under the dual-officeholding law as the Louisiana AG applied it. The school board and the parish council were separate political subdivisions, so the employee did not hold a job in the same…
Can a Pointe Coupee justice of the peace work part time for the parish registrar of voters?
No. Although the general dual-officeholding law ordinarily allowed an elected official to work part time for a separate political subdivision, the attorney general said La. R.S. 18:63 specifically…
Could Elton's aldermen require its elected mayor to work set hours or file a timesheet?
No. The Louisiana AG said the board of aldermen could not require an elected Lawrason Act mayor to work a fixed schedule, keep a timesheet, or report hours worked.
Was a church-owned building exempt from Louisiana property tax while a restaurant leased and used it?
The Louisiana AG said church ownership and tax-exempt status alone did not establish a property-tax exemption. A building leased purely for unrelated commercial gain would remain taxable, with the…
Could a full-time employee of Washington Parish's hospital district serve on the parish council?
Yes, under the Louisiana dual-officeholding law as the AG applied it. The hospital service district and the parish were separate political subdivisions, so the elected council seat and district…
Can a full-time assistant public defender also serve as part-time special counsel to a Louisiana parish council?
Yes. Louisiana's Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law does not bar a full-time assistant public defender employed by a judicial district public defender from also serving as part-time special…
Could Lafourche Parish share dedicated 2017 tax revenue with Lafourche ARC to support disability services?
Yes, the Louisiana AG said the parish could contract with the ARC taxing district, its private nonprofit, or both, if the agreement served a public purpose and spent the tax proceeds only on the…
Can someone other than a coroner sign off on a cremation in Louisiana, and can the coroner charge the family or the funeral home for the permit?
Only a coroner, deputy coroner, or assistant coroner can issue a cremation permit in Louisiana. The coroner cannot charge the family or the funeral home for the permit; the parish or municipality is…
Did Mandeville have to budget every dollar of a multiyear City Hall renovation before starting construction management at risk?
No, the full probable construction cost did not have to be in the annual budget before starting the CMAR selection process. The Louisiana AG said Mandeville still had to put the project's estimated…
Could a Caddo Parish election supervisor work full time as Shreveport's director of council affairs?
Yes, on the facts supplied. The Louisiana AG classified the election-board seat as a part-time appointive office and the city job as full-time employment, and also identified an exception for…
Could a Louisiana notary with a felony conviction regain a commission through an automatic first-offender pardon?
No. The Louisiana AG said the pardon required by the notary provisions meant a governor's or presidential pardon. An automatic first-offender pardon did not qualify, regardless of how much time…
Could a Louisiana clerk cancel a forfeited appearance bond judgment without a court order?
No. The Louisiana AG said the clerk lacked authority to cancel the judgment on a peremption affidavit alone; a court order was required.
Could a nonlawyer mayor pro tempore preside over a Louisiana mayor's court with the mayor's consent?
No. The AG said a nonlawyer mayor pro tempore could not preside over a mayor's court even with the mayor's written consent. The governing statute allowed the board of aldermen, at the mayor's…
Could Louisiana public mental-health advocates notarize no-income affidavits for indigent patients without charging them?
Yes. The AG said Mental Health Advocacy Service attorneys could notarize unemployment or no-income affidavits for indigent Tyler Behavioral Health Clinic patients seeking state mental-health…
Did a shortened inaugural term count toward the two-term limit on Louisiana's east flood protection board?
Yes. The AG counted a shortened inaugural term as one of the two consecutive terms allowed on the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East board. It said the former member could not fill…
Could Caddo Parish give municipalities and the sheriff funds to improve law enforcement?
The AG said Caddo Parish could transfer funds to its municipalities and sheriff's department for law enforcement through a cooperative agreement under the Local Services Law. The agreement had to be…
Did Louisiana law cap additional parish salary for district attorneys in the Twentieth Judicial District?
No. The AG concluded that La. R.S. 16:14 removed any ceiling on additional salary that parish governing authorities could pay the district attorney or assistant district attorneys. It said the older…
Could a physician or coroner issue an emergency psychiatric certificate for a willing patient when the hospital lacked a psychiatric ward?
No. The AG concluded that a patient who was willing and able to seek voluntary treatment did not meet the cited condition for a Physician’s Emergency Certificate, even when the hospital could not…
Could an Acadia Parish drainage employee also sit on both a gravity drainage board and the parish planning commission?
The AG concluded that full-time employment with the Sixth Ward and Crowley Drainage District did not bar either part-time appointment. But a commissioner of the Iota-Long Point Gravity District…
How often did the Sunset Drainage District have to meet after the parish council became its board?
The AG concluded that the district had to hold at least one regular meeting on the second Monday of each month under its bylaws, unless a majority of its members voted to change the date. The parish…
Could a Concordia Parish deputy sheriff also serve as a Catahoula Parish police juror?
No. The AG concluded that the requester’s full-time appointive deputy-sheriff office was incompatible with simultaneous service as an elected Catahoula Parish police juror. It noted that he had been…
Who could sign the federal agreement to collect Louisiana rice assessments?
The AG said the Commissioner of Agriculture was the proper person to sign updated agreements with the federal Commodity Credit Corporation to collect Louisiana rice assessments. It found state-law…
Did a Louisiana municipal fire or police appointing authority have to hire the highest scorer on a competitive list?
No. The AG said competitive-list names had to be ranked by final test score, but the appointing authority could choose any certified candidate for the vacancy. It recalled an earlier opinion to the…
Could Orleans Parish's 911 district take over call-center operations and pay for them with its emergency telephone tax?
The AG said the Orleans Parish Communication District could enter a proposed agreement with New Orleans to operate the 911 call center as well as its infrastructure. It said the voter-approved…
Could a Louisiana state senator also work part time as a deputy clerk of court?
The AG said a state senator could also hold an appointive deputy clerk of court position if it was part time as described in the request. Its dual officeholding answer did not decide governmental…
Could Harahan's mayor require delinquent-tax collection, remove the clerk, and temporarily reassign her duties?
The AG said the city clerk and tax collector had to follow the delinquent-tax sale law without a new council ordinance. Council approval was needed to remove the clerk, while the mayor could…
Could Harahan council members add agenda items and choose planning commissioners by local ordinance?
The AG said Harahan could let individual council members request timely agenda items, but a special-meeting item needed majority support and a late addition required the unanimous vote prescribed by…
Did Louisiana’s sex-offender school-property restriction cover a house where children used a home study program?
The AG concluded that the cited restriction on certain sex offenders near public or private elementary or secondary schools did not extend to a residence where children participated in a home study…
Could Vidalia's development district use public bonds to buy and improve land for later private sale?
No. The AG said the town and district's proposed bond-funded land development was barred private enterprise. Independently, they lacked objective evidence of economic development and developer…
Could a full-time Terrebonne fire chief also serve as a part-time deputy sheriff?
Yes, under the dual officeholding law considered. The AG classified the fire-chief job as a full-time appointive office and the weekend deputy-sheriff role as a part-time appointive office. It found…
Could a justice of the peace carry a concealed handgun in a courtroom held at home and exclude a permit holder’s gun?
The AG concluded that a justice of the peace who met the annual firearms qualification could carry concealed while holding court at home. It also said the justice could prohibit a concealed-carry…
Could a Louisiana state senator also serve part time as Lafayette's parks and recreation director?
The AG said the dual officeholding law did not prohibit a state senator from also holding Lafayette's parks and recreation directorship if that appointive post was part time. It said the full-time…
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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.