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 social services department distribute private Katrina relief donations to its employees?
The AG found no general legal bar to the department accepting private donations for employees affected by Hurricane Katrina. It conditioned awards to employees on approval from the State Civil…
Could Tangipahoa’s sheriff donate a blighted building to a nonprofit that promised to renovate it?
No. The AG said the sheriff owed no legal duty to transfer the property, and the constitutional exception allowing certain parish or municipal donations of blighted housing did not extend to a…
Could Mansura's elected police chief require the town to give his department a vacant municipal building?
No. The AG said the mayor and town council could refuse the chief's request to move the police department into a vacant town-owned building. The chief controlled police operations, but the opinion…
Could a Louisiana sheriff’s sale proceed after Katrina emergency orders suspended court deadlines?
The AG said a sheriff’s sale counted as a legal proceeding covered by the post-hurricane deadline suspensions. Under the Louisiana Supreme Court’s October 3, 2005 order, a court could shorten or…
Could the Winn Parish Police Jury require Winnfield's elected city marshal to appear and explain his police budget?
No. The AG said no law required Winnfield's elected city marshal to appear before the Winn Parish Police Jury about his budget. After the mayor and city governing authority approved appropriations,…
Can St. Landry Parish abolish its District Five road commission and take its taxes and assets?
The AG reaffirmed its earlier conclusion that the parish government could not simply abolish this legislatively created district and take over its tax. A consolidation and merger could occur through…
Who was authorized to redesign Louisiana's state flag and seal after the 2006 pelican amendment?
The AG found that the 2006 amendments did not say which official or agency should redesign the state flag or seal. It recommended that the legislature assign responsibility and identified the…
Can a Louisiana school board sell the naming rights to a school facility?
Yes. The AG said a city, parish, or local school board could grant naming rights to a facility it owned in return for funds, subject to naming restrictions and other law. An individual school did…
Could Lafayette school administrators hire displaced teachers without board approval after Katrina?
The AG said Lafayette's administration could enroll displaced students but could not hire displaced teachers without school board approval. The opinion distinguished delegable student assignment…
Could Louisiana's governor call an incorporation election when a petition's voter certificate only counted valid signatures?
No. The AG said the Stoney Point petition lacked the registrar's required certification that at least 25% of electors living in the proposed village had signed. The governor should return it for…
Did an old right-of-way deed exempt Patterson landowners from a street-upgrade assessment?
No. The AG read Patterson's old right-of-way deed as relieving the landowners of day-to-day upkeep costs, not special assessments for a major Catherine Street upgrade. It also said the city lacked…
Did a Scott city council member lose the seat after moving out of the ward that elected him?
The AG said a Scott alderman had to remain a resident of the ward that elected him. Moving out did not itself vacate the seat automatically: the board of aldermen had cause to declare a vacancy…
Could Louisiana fund sex-offender registry appropriations when the named bill never passed?
Yes. The AG said Treasury should fund the two Sex Offender Registry Technology Fund appropriations because Act 663 allowed payment when the relevant provisions of failed House Bill 695 were enacted…
Who could sell Natchitoches Parish Hospital, and what approvals and uses of the proceeds were required?
The AG said ownership was a factual question: the district would sell if it owned the hospital, or the parish would sell if it owned it. It said a sale required voter and Attorney General approval,…
Could a Louisiana school board modify a mandatory drug expulsion to provide homebound instruction?
Yes. The AG said Evangeline Parish's school board could modify the superintendent's drug-related expulsion decision and offer homebound instruction, even though the parish lacked a drug court or…
Can Ascension Parish's president veto an informal access-channel advisory board or its guidelines?
No. The AG said the parish president's charter veto reached ordinances, codes, resolutions, and budget items, but not an advisory board appointed without an ordinance or the guidelines it followed.…
Could St. Bernard Parish suspend voter approval for new fees after Hurricane Katrina?
No. The AG said the parish council could not suspend the charter rule requiring voters to approve proposals for a new or increased sales and use tax, charge, or fee. The charter's…
Could Louisiana’s medical board obtain final malpractice panel opinions after a payment was reported?
Yes in the situation addressed. The AG said Act 306 barred reporting the filing of a request for medical review, but did not prevent the Patients' Compensation Fund Oversight Board from furnishing a…
If a clerk's office pays the clerk's employee retirement contribution, does that payment count toward the clerk's salary cap?
Yes. The AG said an office-paid employee contribution for a clerk was additional compensation subject to the statutory salary maximum. The retirement statute excluded it from benefit calculation,…
Must a Louisiana sheriff's employee repay personal calls made on a department cell phone?
No reimbursement was required for occasional personal calls on the department's block-minute plan if the plan was sized for official needs and the calls added no cost. The sheriff's request assumed…
Did Louisiana law impose the same disciplinary penalties on teachers and students for the same misconduct?
No. The AG said Louisiana then had no law imposing identical penalties on teachers and students for the same conduct. It explained that separate teacher-tenure provisions allowed discipline or…
Could Richwood terminate a police officer on temporary disability, and what benefits still remained?
The AG said Richwood could terminate the officer if injury prevented him from performing his duties, so long as the discharge was not retaliation for claiming workers’ compensation. It said accrued…
Could a Louisiana school board member also work as a deputy clerk of court part time?
No. The AG concluded that a school board member could not also hold any office or employment with a clerk of court. Calling the deputy clerk position part time did not change that result.
Did Louisiana's 2006 disaster-aid information law require the Red Cross to give recipients' names to sheriffs?
No under the statute the AG interpreted. It concluded that the American Red Cross was not a “state or local agency” required by the 2006 disaster-aid provision to provide recipients' available…
Can an Amite city council member volunteer as an unpaid reserve police officer?
Yes, if the reserve police position was unpaid. The AG said that without salary or per-diem compensation it was not employment under the dual-officeholding statute. The person still had to meet…
Can a Louisiana city sell surplus land to a lower bidder because it prefers that bidder's proposed use?
No for the sale proposed. The AG said Lake Charles could not sell appraised surplus property to a lower dollar bidder merely because it preferred that buyer's planned use. Once publicly offered with…
Could Ascension Parish's president veto council rules for a government access channel?
Yes. The AG said the parish president could veto the council ordinances creating an advisory board and setting Channel 21 policies. Those ordinances were substantive measures, so they did not…
Can a homebound or blind Louisiana voter give someone else power of attorney to cast their vote?
No. The AG said a person's fundamental voting right could not be assigned to another through a power of attorney. It pointed instead to voting assistance and absentee procedures available to…
Were Louisiana police chiefs' required training hours suspended during the 2005 spending freeze?
The AG said the executive spending freeze justified suspending the required LEEMI continuing education training from September 19, 2005, through March 29, 2006, when the Division of Administration…
Can Iberville Parish's finance director also serve on the elected school board?
No. The AG classified Iberville Parish's finance director as a full-time appointed office under its charter. R.S. 42:63(D) barred holding that office alongside an elected parish school-board seat.
Can a Monroe city council member also work as a paid reserve police officer for the city?
No. The AG said a Monroe city council member could not also serve as a compensated reserve police officer for Monroe. State law barred employment in the same political subdivision, and the city's…
Did a school principal's role in awarding a defender-board contract to a school board member raise a conflict of interest?
The AG found no violation of Louisiana's dual-officeholding laws in the positions described. It did not decide whether awarding the contract raised an ethics conflict; it directed that question to…
Can a Louisiana clerk sign a bank collateral agreement that limits approval of securities for court registry funds?
No. The AG said the proposed collateral and custodian agreements conflicted with Louisiana's local-depository law because they limited the clerk's ability to approve the securities securing court…
Could a Louisiana fire department fence off a neighbor's route across its land?
It depended on whether the neighbor's parcel was enclosed and whether a nearer public-road route existed. The AG said the department could re-erect its fence if the owner had other public-road…
Could two Louisiana parish party committees share an office and split its costs?
Yes. The AG said the Bossier and Caddo parish party committees could share an office and divide rent and telephone costs, with the payments reported as expenditures or intercommittee transfers as…
Did Louisiana’s AG consider the proposed Nurse Licensure Compact an unconstitutional delegation?
Yes, for the proposed compact the AG reviewed in 2006. It said absolute reciprocity would let other states set qualifications for nonresident nurses practicing in Louisiana without Louisiana’s…
Did Concordia Parish have to keep paying a justice of the peace during an interim judicial disqualification?
The AG did not decide whether the parish had to continue paying the justice of the peace. It found no definitive rule for this interim disqualification and said the Louisiana Supreme Court, which…
Did Alexandria’s reimbursed subdivision infrastructure agreements have to follow Louisiana’s public bid law?
Yes for the agreements described. The AG said the public bid law applied when Alexandria reimbursed a developer for infrastructure on public land, or on private land that would be completed,…
Could a Louisiana fire district keep taxing land annexed by a city without a service agreement?
Yes. The AG said St. Tammany Fire District No. 12 could continue collecting taxes on land annexed by Covington because no agreement gave the city exclusive service jurisdiction there. It also said…
May a Louisiana parish pay private lawyers a contingency fee to defend an assessor's tax reassessment?
The AG said an assessor could hire private counsel for taxpayer reassessment proceedings, and a parish governing authority could do so where it had a direct financial interest and followed…
Did an appointed Louisiana police juror have to meet the same qualifications as an elected juror?
Yes. The AG read the vacancy statute to require a police jury appointee to meet the office's qualifications, including those specified for elected police jurors by R.S. 33:1225.
Can a Shreveport city council member also become Caddo Parish administrator?
No. The AG said a Shreveport council member could not concurrently hold the full-time appointed office of Caddo Parish administrator. It advised resignation from the council seat if the appointment…
Was a Calcasieu industrial development board’s gas-storage project tax exempt while leased to a private company?
Yes. The AG said property titled to the industrial development board was exempt from ad valorem tax while leased to the private developer. The board could negotiate a payment in lieu of tax no…
Can a Louisiana sheriff provide office space and staff to a contract lawyer in exchange for lower fees?
Yes, under the arrangement described: the value of the sheriff's office space, supplies, and clerical support had to equal a corresponding reduction in the lawyer's fee, and the support had to be…
Can Iberia Parish's mosquito board keep leftover sales-tax money in an emergency fund?
No. The AG said the voter-approved tax proposition required unspent proceeds to be distributed annually to Iberia Parish and its incorporated municipalities for drainage work. The mosquito board…
Did a Louisiana contractor need a manufactured-housing retailer license to build a modular home?
The AG said a contractor did not need a Manufactured Housing Commission retailer license to purchase or arrange construction of modular sections assembled on a permanent foundation under the…
Could Sibley’s police chief increase a part-time officer’s hours and pay without town council approval?
The AG distinguished hours from pay. It said the chief could increase a part-time officer’s hours under his department-supervision authority, but could only recommend a pay raise to the mayor and…
When did the Village of Creola legally incorporate after a court challenge to its election?
The AG concluded that Creola incorporated on January 9, 2002, when the court dismissed the timely challenge to its incorporation election. It rejected both the earlier election-based date and the…
Can an appointed mayor's court magistrate perform marriages in Louisiana?
No, not by virtue of the appointment. The AG said an attorney serving as an appointed mayor's court magistrate was not a city-court judge and was not among the officiants listed in Louisiana's…
Could a Louisiana film infrastructure project stack the 25 percent and 15 percent tax credits in the 2006 law?
Yes, under the version of La. R.S. 47:6007 addressed in 2006. The AG read the 15 percent infrastructure credit as additional to the 25 percent base-investment credit for qualifying in-state…
Can a Louisiana city tax collector collect parish property taxes for the sheriff?
Yes. The AG said a sheriff and municipality may make a cooperative endeavor agreement allowing the municipal tax collector to collect parish property taxes. The fee appeared negotiable, with the…
Did Roseland have to pay past employer pension contributions for its police chief’s uncredited service?
Yes. The AG said Roseland should have enrolled the chief when he first became an eligible police employee and owed the employer share of past retirement contributions for the service credit he…
Could a Louisiana levee district remove obstructions from old levees without recorded rights of way?
The AG said the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District could rely on La. R.S. 19:14 for rights needed to maintain, repair, and clear its old levees, assuming the landowners had consented or acquiesced…
Could St. Bernard Parish temporarily change its evening council meeting time after Katrina?
The AG said Hurricane Katrina's damage and unsafe streets fit the parish charter's public-emergency provision, allowing a temporary change to the rule that one monthly meeting begin no earlier than…
Could a Louisiana parish reassess tax-adjudicated property before its owner redeemed it?
Yes. The AG said a parish could reassess property before its former owner redeemed it. During the three-year redemption period discussed in the opinion, the property had to be listed separately in…
Could a Louisiana city pay its attorney a flat monthly fee for legal work?
The AG said a flat monthly legal-services fee was permissible if the attorney actually performed services each month and the city paid only after the work was done. The office advised against this…
Could a Louisiana hospital district reimburse an employee’s criminal bail-bond premium after charges were declined?
Yes on the stated facts. The AG said a political subdivision could reimburse the surety-bond premium its employee paid for release after arrest when the charge arose from official duties and the…
Did Hurricane Katrina deadline suspensions extend a bail company's time to surrender a defendant in New Orleans?
The AG said a bail company's surrender deadline had to be evaluated case by case under the post-Katrina deadline statutes. It identified limited suspension windows and a motion procedure for some…
Did a private nonprofit raising money for a Louisiana state commission have to follow public deposit limits?
No. The AG concluded that the Louisiana Veterans Memorial Foundation was a private nonprofit, not a public body subject to the deposit limits in La. R.S. 6:748. Reporting its finances with a state…
What could Louisiana fire district firefighters receive for appearing as witnesses?
For the civil-case or administrative-hearing appearances covered by the cited statute, the AG said a salaried firefighter could receive pay from the employer or a $40 appearance fee, while an unpaid…
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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.