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.
No Louisiana opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Can a Louisiana 911 district use its dedicated tax for a shared voice radio system?
Yes, on the facts described. The AG said West Feliciana Parish's communications district could spend its dedicated enhanced-911 tax on a shared voice communications system for responding agencies…
Can a Louisiana justice of the peace contract to operate an auto title company for the state?
The AG said Louisiana's dual-officeholding provisions did not prohibit the proposed independent-contractor arrangement. It did not decide whether the contract complied with the Judicial Code of…
Can a Louisiana town name its municipal complex after someone who is still alive?
No. The AG said R.S. 42:267 barred naming a municipally owned public building in honor of a living person unless another law authorized it. Its headnote applied that rule to a municipal complex.
Can the Louisiana Rice Promotion Board collect the rice assessment itself?
No. The AG said the Commissioner of Agriculture, rather than the Louisiana Rice Promotion Board, must collect the assessment. The commissioner then pays the board annually, less allowed…
Can a Baton Rouge Metro Council member also serve on the parish election supervisors board?
Yes. The AG concluded that an East Baton Rouge Metro Council member could also serve on the parish board of election supervisors. The board post was part time, and its per diem did not make it…
Which public accountability laws applied to Assumption Parish's volunteer fire departments?
The AG said a volunteer fire department primarily funded with public money and serving a public purpose was subject to public-records and audit oversight, plus fiscal review by its fire district. It…
Could an Orleans Parish assessor redirect her salary to hire more deputy assessors?
The AG said the assessor could not redirect her statutory salary allocation straight into her office's staffing budget. She could receive the salary and then donate it back to the office for…
When did Louisiana's freeport exemption cover goods stored before out-of-state shipment?
The AG did not decide whether either company in the request qualified. It said the assessor had to apply the constitutional and statutory exemptions to the facts, including whether goods were held…
Could a Louisiana parish council redirect library tax money to build a new branch?
The AG said the Lafourche Parish Council could change the library board's budget and direct tax proceeds toward a new library site and construction within the voter-approved tax purposes. The…
Did the disability retirement offset in La. R.S. 11:221 violate the constitution?
The AG concluded that the offset required by La. R.S. 11:221 was constitutional. The opinion relied on the presumption that statutes are valid and said the office knew of no court ruling against…
Could Louisiana’s practical nursing board raise licensing fees within an existing statutory range?
Yes, within the range already set by La. R.S. 37:977. The AG said that law had passed by the required two-thirds vote, so the board could raise fees without another legislative vote if it adopted…
Could Ponchatoula pay police employees’ missed retirement contributions after placing them in the wrong system?
The AG said Ponchatoula could pay the employer contribution owed for police employees who belonged in MPERS, but it could not lawfully pay their employee share. It advised identifying affected…
Could Louisiana Social Services ask its contractors for minority, faith-based, and community-based status after awarding a contract?
The AG said the Department could collect those categories for statistical and planning purposes after contracts were awarded. It considered voluntary answers more acceptable for faith-based and…
Could a Louisiana agency satisfy emergency-rule written notice by fax or PDF alone?
The AG did not say fax or PDF was expressly forbidden, but advised agencies not to rely on either alone to satisfy the emergency-rule statute's written-statement requirement. It recommended…
Which Louisiana sheriff paid retiree insurance when a deputy worked for more than one office?
For the sheriff offices covered by the rule discussed, the AG said an eligible deputy's last sheriff employer paid retiree health and life coverage even if earlier sheriff service supplied part of…
Did Kenner owe back pay after suspending its chief administrative officer before a felony conviction?
Yes. The AG said Kenner improperly suspended its chief administrative officer without pay before any felony conviction. It concluded he was owed salary, insurance, and retirement benefits from the…
Who had to prepare a criminal defendant's commitment sheet in Louisiana court?
The AG said the duty to prepare a criminal commitment sheet belonged to the judge, not the court crier. Court staff could prepare the sheet under the customary procedure the opinion described.
Can a Louisiana state education board employee also serve on a local school board?
No. The AG said employment with Louisiana's State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education was state executive-branch employment barred alongside a local elected school-board seat. The exception…
Could the Town of Jackson amend its charter to allow higher ordinance penalties?
The AG found the Town of Jackson's proposed charter amendment consistent with state law and recommended gubernatorial approval. The proposal allowed ordinance penalties of up to $500, sixty days'…
Could voters leaving a Lafourche recreation district still vote on its millage renewal before the boundary change?
Yes. The AG said qualified electors domiciled in Recreation District No. 1 on the date of the millage-renewal election had to be allowed to vote, even if a boundary change would move them to another…
Could East Baton Rouge extend BREC commissioners’ three-year terms to four years by changing its home rule plan?
No. The AG said the Metro-Council's proposed four-year term conflicted with La. R.S. 33:4570.1's three-year term for appointed BREC commissioners, which carried forward the older constitutional…
Could Lake Charles donate city land to a nonprofit for affordable housing after Hurricane Rita?
The AG said Lake Charles could donate land for its affordable-housing program for needy families if the program had objective eligibility requirements. For a donation through the proposed…
Could Norco volunteer fire chiefs on call use publicly funded vehicles for occasional personal trips?
Yes on the facts presented. The AG said occasional personal use by Norco's fire chief and assistant chiefs did not violate Louisiana's public-funds rule because their assigned vehicles let them…
Could Gretna’s council bar its mayor from placing any item on a council meeting agenda?
Generally, the council’s agenda ordinance bound the mayor. But when the mayor called a special or emergency council meeting, the statute required him to state the business or purpose, so the…
Were a mortgage authority trustee's votes and bonds valid after he moved out of the parish?
The AG said the trustee's votes, board documents, and bond approvals remained valid because he was a de facto officer after moving out of the parish. The Authority could not recover his per diem for…
Did interest retained in the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge trust count toward its fifty million dollar principal cap?
Yes. The AG said investment income left after the statute's annual allocations became part of the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection Fund's principal once added to the fund, and…
Can a Louisiana school board member also work for the parish clerk of court?
No. The AG said a person employed by the Pointe Coupee Parish Clerk of Court could not also serve on the parish school board. The cited law separately bars a school board member from holding any…
Could the Louisiana Airport Authority hire a lobbyist with public funds?
The AG said the Louisiana Airport Authority could not use public funds, employees, or a contract to lobby the legislature or other state bodies. It could provide information to those bodies.
Could a Louisiana municipal police officer also work full time as a parish deputy sheriff?
The AG said one person could not hold both a full-time municipal police job and a full-time deputy sheriff appointment. A full-time officer could hold the deputy role part time, and a full-time…
Could Livingston Parish cancel a landfill lease it inherited with purchased land or charge for an old operating permit?
The AG said Livingston Parish could not unilaterally alter or cancel the landfill lease if it was properly recorded and the lessee had not breached it. The parish also could not demand a new payment…
Could Ascension Parish's council override decisions of drainage districts the parish created?
The AG concluded that Ascension Parish's council had general power to regulate, override, or abolish the East and West Ascension Gravity Drainage Districts it had created. Because another opinion…
Could Louisiana's Recovery School District insure school buildings through the state Office of Risk Management?
Yes. The AG said the Recovery School District had the right or obligation to insure buildings and their contents under its control. Coverage through the state Office of Risk Management would not…
Who controls a New Orleans school's student activity fund after it moves to the Recovery School District or a charter operator?
The AG said a student activity fund belonged to the individual school, not the Orleans Parish School Board. The school operator could use it for its original purpose after a transfer; funds of a…
Could Jefferson Parish give new school bus routes to a contractor before offering them to senior drivers?
The AG said new routes first had to be offered to tenured bus operators in seniority order, then to a full-time probationary operator, and then to an approved substitute if regular operators…
Did a Louisiana hospital district need Bond Commission approval for an interest-rate swap?
The AG concluded that Terrebonne's hospital district did not need State Bond Commission approval for a swap tied to its already approved bonds, because the swap exchanged payment streams without new…
Could Louisiana Prison Enterprises partner with a private company to raise tilapia using inmate labor?
The AG said the Department had authority under the Prison Enterprises statute to enter the proposed cooperative endeavor for tilapia production and inmate work. It requested review of the final…
Could a Louisiana parish councilman also work full time for the parish school board?
Yes. The AG said a West Baton Rouge Parish councilman could keep his full-time job as the parish school board's maintenance supervisor because the council and school board were separate political…
Could a Bryceland alderman also serve on the North Bienville fire district board?
Yes on the positions described. The AG treated the alderman seat as local elective office and the fire district commissioner seat as part-time appointive office; the dual-officeholding provision…
Must a Louisiana public school teacher resign before campaigning for a seat on the employing school board?
No resignation was required to qualify or campaign. The AG said a teacher elected to the school board that employed him had to resign that employment immediately; if he did not, the job became…
Could a Louisiana sheriff keep a private law practice or earn income from a law partnership?
The AG said the dual-officeholding statute did not apply to a sheriff's private law practice because it concerned public offices and employment. It did not decide whether the sheriff could continue…
Could a Terrebonne Parish council member also serve on its housing authority board?
Yes on the facts assumed. The housing-authority commission was a part-time appointive office, so the full-time officeholding ban did not apply. The AG assumed the council member was not also parish…
Could Louisiana’s Housing Finance Agency buy private insurance for its headquarters instead of using state risk management?
The body of the AG opinion said the agency could insure its own headquarters through the Office of Risk Management or buy private insurance under its specific statutory authority. It warned that…
Could Louisiana's psychology licensing board pay the professional association to run its board-nominee election?
Yes. The AG said the state psychology board could contract with the Louisiana Psychological Association to pay for the statutorily required election of board nominees. The payment was a valid…
Could Louisiana’s contractor licensing board spend fee revenue on its anniversary celebration?
No. The AG said licensing fees were public funds even though the board received no general-fund appropriation, so the board could not spend them on anniversary food, logistics, and promotion. It…
Could Louisiana stadium tax receipts tied to Hornets practices at the Alario Center be paid to the team?
The AG said tax-based fund allocations for income earned at both the Arena and Alario Center went to their owner, the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District. It could use allocated money to pay…
Who could claim Louisiana's homestead exemption after a home was sold for unpaid taxes?
The AG said the former owner's homestead exemption ended when the owner's name left the tax rolls after a tax sale. The purchaser received the property interest described by the statute but could…
Did paying on-call firefighters turn volunteering into a second job under Louisiana law?
The AG treated hourly paid-on-call firefighting as an employment relationship, while saying nominal reimbursement could be consistent with volunteer status. It found no bar to a private employer…
Could Church Point’s mayor require its elected police chief to report police vehicle trips?
The mayor could require the elected chief to submit written vehicle-use reports to the aldermen. The AG said the mayor and board could not directly order the chief's officers to file the trip…
Was the New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority subject to Louisiana’s local public-deposit and bank-recusal rules?
Yes. The AG said the Ernest N. Morial-New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority was a local governmental subdivision, not a state agency, so the local depositing authority statutes applied. That…
How should a Louisiana assessor list property when the recorded owner has died and no succession has been opened?
The AG said the property should be assessed in the deceased record owner's estate when that person remained the owner of record. An affidavit of heirship alone did not transfer record ownership to…
When did Louisiana have to return a private-activity bond allocation applicant’s escrow deposit?
Under the executive order the AG interpreted, the $7,500 deposit had to be returned when the applicant substituted an accepted bond-purchase or underwriting commitment, even if bonds were later not…
Could St. Helena's sheriff take a tax-collection commission on vehicle sales taxes collected by state DPS?
No. The AG said the sheriff's commission agreements covered sales taxes the sheriff actually collected, while the Department of Public Safety collected the motor-vehicle taxes at issue. Receiving,…
Could a Louisiana school board hire a private company to collect parish sales tax without council consent?
The AG said the school board could contract with a private company to assist with taxes it was authorized to collect. Whether it needed the parish council's consent depended on their agreement; the…
Could Gueydan’s elected police chief keep office after moving outside town, and commute in a city vehicle?
The AG said an elected chief who moved out of Gueydan was no longer a town elector and no longer qualified to hold office, but the board of aldermen had to declare the vacancy. It found no state…
Could Avoyelles Parish donate proceeds from land it sold to a local nonprofit community center?
No on the facts presented. The AG said Avoyelles Parish could not donate public sale proceeds to the Hickory Hill Community Center: the parish had no legal duty to fund it, no qualifying aid program…
Could a Webster Parish sales-tax commission auditor serve on the Minden City Council?
Yes under the dual-officeholding statutes the AG reviewed. It treated the sales-tax commission and City of Minden as separate political subdivisions, so the same-subdivision employment ban did not…
Could a Beauregard fire-district board secretary also serve as a Merryville alderman?
Yes on the part-time facts described. The AG treated the fire-district board secretary as an appointive office, but the dual-officeholding statute barred a local elected official only from pairing…
Could Washington Parish’s tourism commission impose a hotel occupancy tax without a parish election?
Yes under the statute discussed. The commission could levy up to three percent on qualifying lodging by resolution or ordinance without an election; a tax above that ceiling required voter approval.
Could a Slidell city court law clerk serve as an ad hoc or pro tempore judge in that court?
No. The AG treated the law clerk and staff attorney as holding a local-government court position and said the Louisiana Supreme Court’s temporary-judge rule barred that appointment. It therefore did…
Did a Louisiana city have to publish a proposed settlement after the claimant had already filed suit?
No under the provisions the AG compared. A city settling a filed lawsuit under R.S. 13:5109(A) did not have to publish the proposed settlement under subsection (C), which governed specified claims…
Browse Louisiana opinions by topic
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.