State AG Opinions
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Could an elected Louisiana justice of the peace also take a paid appointment to a state board?
The AG said an elected justice of the peace could also serve on a state board or commission if the appointed position was part time. He said the dual-office-holding rule would prohibit a full-time…
When could a Louisiana parish buy property and casualty insurance through a surplus line broker?
Under the law discussed in this 2003 opinion, the AG said surplus line coverage through a licensed broker was allowed only when the coverage could not be obtained from insurers authorized to write…
Could a Louisiana seafood dealer be cited for undersized crabs after identifying the fisherman who harvested them?
The AG said a dealer who timely gave truthful, compliant identification of the harvesting fisherman should not be cited. If an officer had probable cause to believe that information was false or did…
Could a full-time Louisiana police jury worker also take a part-time legislative assistant job?
Yes, on the positions described in this 2003 opinion. The AG said the part-time legislative assistant role could be held alongside full-time employment as a police jury maintenance crew worker…
Could Louisiana release a missing child's information in an Amber Alert despite juvenile privacy laws?
The Louisiana AG concluded in this 2003 opinion that the state provisions the requester identified did not prohibit releasing information under the Louisiana Amber Alert Plan. The opinion treated…
Could a Terrebonne council member live outside his district temporarily after a fire destroyed his home?
The AG said a reasonably temporary move could be consistent with the charter's residency requirement, but eligibility depended on facts such as duration, intent to return, and continued district…
Could Baskin's mayor lock an elected police chief out of his office, control his patrol car, or require citation copies before he saw them?
The AG said the mayor could not block the elected chief's after-hours access to his office or impose a citation-copy procedure that displaced the chief's operational control. The chief could keep a…
Did Jean Lafitte's mayor lose town residency by living elsewhere temporarily while a new in-town home was built?
The AG found no basis on the presented facts to declare the mayor a nonresident because of the temporary move. It drew on earlier opinions distinguishing domicile from temporary residence and noted…
Could Roseland claim a volunteer fire nonprofit's records, equipment, bank account, and an audit after a dispute?
The AG said the town's rights turned on whether the volunteer department was primarily funded by public money. If it was not, the town could not claim the nonprofit's documents, equipment, or…
Could a Louisiana town set its elected police chief's benefits, supervise the chief, or dictate patrol hours?
The AG said Eros's aldermen had to set the elected chief's compensation, including health insurance benefits, by ordinance. The mayor could not supervise the chief, and the town governing authority…
Could Louisiana hold Winnsboro's 2002 municipal election before its new district plan received federal preclearance?
The AG said the Secretary of State could decline to conduct the election upon certification that no valid apportionment plan existed. The city was to submit its plan for preclearance, with an…
Did Port Barre have to publicly bid a realty firm's contract to find tenants for a town building?
The AG said the tenant-finding agreement was a services contract that did not require public bidding. Any resulting lease of the town building still had to satisfy public lease and municipal…
Could West Monroe City Court move old, unclaimed civil-fee money into its operating fund?
Yes, if the surplus filing fees and costs had remained unclaimed for at least five years. The AG applied a statute allowing the court's judge to transfer such funds to the court's general operational fund.
Could a Caldwell Parish detention officer work part-time on sheriff's patrol after a full workweek?
The AG said yes on the stated facts: the officer could also work part-time as a deputy sheriff if the deputy hiring requirements were met. The opinion said part-time deputies did not qualify for the…
Could a New Orleans criminal court commissioner serve as a contracted boxing judge?
The AG said yes under the described arrangement. The boxing commission would retain the judge by contract rather than employ him, so the state dual-officeholding restriction did not apply.
Could a Baldwin police officer serve on the council of a neighboring Louisiana town?
The AG said state dual-officeholding law did not bar the combination because the job and elected office were in different municipalities. It cautioned that the council town's home rule charter might…
Could Southern University's board require a rotating campus seat for its student board member?
The AG said the student-body-presidents' council, not the board, had to control the selection method. The council could choose rotation, but the board could not impose it through its own bylaws…
Did state funds merely passed through a Louisiana foundation count toward its audit-reporting threshold?
Yes. The AG said the funds counted as 'revenues and other sources' even though the foundation forwarded them to a company and gained no direct benefit, so the more detailed reporting requirement applied.
When did a Louisiana public airport have to bid a space lease, and how long could it run?
The 2002 opinion said operations-space leases over 250 square feet required public bidding, while smaller ones could be bid at the lessor's choice. It also described a ten-year base term and two…
Who could collect Caddo Fire District #4's service charges, and did the assessor have to count buildings?
The 2002 opinion placed original collection and enforcement authority with the fire district and said it could arrange for another agency to collect. It did not identify a mandatory assessor role in…
Can a Louisiana water district make former employees wait two years to join its board?
No, according to this 2002 opinion. The AG said Rapides Parish Water District #3 could not add a two-year waiting period to the statutory qualifications for waterworks commissioners.
Did Louisiana state employees whose main job was driving need their own liability insurance?
Generally no, under the law reviewed in 2002, unless a driver fell under specified financial-responsibility requirements. The AG said the state could adopt such a requirement by policy, while urging…
Who was responsible for the actions of Lake Charles port district employees?
The AG said the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District, as a state political subdivision, was legally responsible for acts of its agents and employees. It also noted possible indemnity rights…
Could Opelousas police officers serve as deputy marshals and send court fees to the city?
The AG concluded that full-time city police officers could not be appointed deputy marshals and that the criminal-matter fees discussed in the opinion belonged in the marshal's accounts, not the city's.
Could a fire district charge separately for each bed space in a nursing home's shared rooms?
The opinion concluded that separating two beds with a curtain did not create separate units or structures under the fire district's service-charge authority. It addressed the proposed charge on…
Could someone convicted of an out-of-state felony qualify for elected office in Louisiana?
The AG said a person with an out-of-state conviction equivalent to a Louisiana felony could qualify after a pardon by the proper authority, or without a pardon if qualifying occurred more than…
Could Louisiana lease downtown state property through LSU for a privately funded arts complex?
The AG found statutory authority for the state-to-LSU lease and described routes for LSU to lease to the project LLC. It said privately funded construction under a proper lease avoided public-work…
Could a Louisiana justice of the peace still perform marriages after losing reelection?
The AG said a justice of the peace who had served at least eighteen years could retain marriage-officiant authority after leaving office if the required registration was maintained, within the…
Could a Sabine River Authority board member keep a school teaching job?
The AG said yes under the dual officeholding law discussed because the authority board seat was a part-time appointive office. The prohibition it examined would apply if both positions were full-time.
Could Sulphur provide city-paid group health and life insurance to a retired mayor?
The AG said the city council could adopt the proposed benefit for a retired mayor on the facts presented. It noted that elected-official insurance had to be authorized under an existing contract and…
What territory did Monroe City Court cover after Ouachita Parish changed its precinct labels?
The AG said Monroe’s court territory comprised the city limits as extended with required approval and the historical Third and Tenth Wards, despite new precinct labels. It applied those boundaries…
Could Brusly's mayor and council direct police officers and the assistant chief under proposed ordinances?
The AG said provisions directing officers or the assistant chief to take assignments and report to the mayor or council could infringe the elected chief's authority to run the police department. It…
Could the Calcasieu sheriff lease law enforcement district space to a private ambulance service?
The AG saw no legal bar to a properly negotiated lease if the district did not need the property for law enforcement, received rent commensurate with its value, and obtained beneficial lease terms.
Could vending machines be placed on Lake Providence town property without paying the town?
The AG said the town had to receive compensation for use of its space; otherwise the use would be a prohibited donation of public funds. It referred the separate question about an elected official…
Could one Louisiana parish leave the Audubon Regional Library on its own?
The AG said a member parish could leave only under Article VI of the parishes' written agreement, which made termination depend on agreement between the parishes.
Could a Louisiana home owned by a single-member LLC receive the homestead exemption?
The AG said no. It read the constitutional exemption as requiring ownership and occupancy by a natural person, while even a single-member LLC was a separate legal entity.
Could Loreauville spend a sales tax dedicated to its police department on a contract with the parish sheriff?
The AG said no under the existing voter-approved tax proposition. It recommended asking voters to rededicate the tax to a broader law-enforcement purpose and said the parish sheriff could not also…
Could New Iberia's mayor restrict access to work areas in city facilities under the city charter?
The AG said yes. It read New Iberia's charter as giving the mayor exclusive authority over day-to-day city operations, including discretion to restrict access to work areas for safety, employee…
Was there a fixed deadline to replace a commissioner on Assumption Parish Waterworks District No. 1's board?
The AG said the statute left filling the vacancy to the appointing authority's discretion and specified no deadline in the quoted provision. It said the appointment should be made within a reasonable time.
Could a Louisiana Department of Transportation employee also serve as an elected school board member?
The AG said no. State employment could not be held at the same time as a local elective school board seat under the dual-officeholding statute, and the opinion found no applicable exemption.
Could Carencro police run employer criminal-history checks for hospitals or nursing homes and charge a fee?
The AG said the department could perform authorized checks for specified healthcare and child-protection employers, with a reasonable processing fee under the statute. It said the fee could be…
Could Louisiana school retirement employers use the Employer Credit Account after Act 897's benefit increase was paid from surplus?
The AG said yes, if statutory conditions were met. Act 897's actuarial implementation cost had been paid from surplus as required; a later increase in the employer contribution rate attributable to…
Could Ascension Parish contribute to a study of an airport planned in a nearby parish?
The AG said a cooperative economic-development agreement could be lawful if it identified a specific parish benefit proportionate to the cost and satisfied the public-purpose and legal-obligation…
Which Caddo Parish precinct boundaries could officials use after a boundary agreement with Bossier Parish had not received federal approval?
The AG said officials had to use the last federally precleared precinct boundaries for the elections discussed. The unsubmitted Caddo-Bossier boundary agreement could not be implemented for voting,…
Could the public inspect West Carroll school records that identified students, and who decided how long older school records were kept?
The AG said personally identifiable student records were confidential and excluded from public inspection without the affected parties' consent. It said the state superintendent of education and/or…
Could a Louisiana gravity drainage district board increase its commissioners' per-meeting pay above $60?
The AG said the 2001 amendment raised the statutory ceiling to one hundred dollars per day, but any increase required a two-thirds board vote after a public hearing advertised twice in the…
Could Louisiana advance ancillary appropriation funds for nonprofit capital construction and collect repayment over several years?
The AG said no. The ancillary appropriation was for operating funds, not capital construction, and an advance on an appropriation had to be repaid in the same fiscal year.
How could Killian fill two new alderman seats after changing from a village to a town?
The AG said Killian's governing authority could appoint qualified people to the new seats under its general municipal powers and follow the Election Code's vacancy procedures, including a special…
Did St. Landry's Road District No. 5 boundaries move automatically when Police Jury District No. 5 was reapportioned?
No. The AG said the road district's statutory boundaries stayed where they were despite the police jury district's reapportionment, making the proposed tax election for new boundaries unnecessary on…
What authority did Gramercy's elected police chief, mayor, and aldermen have over off-duty details, citations, hiring, and police records?
The AG said the department could allow off-duty security work using town equipment; citation dismissal had to follow court procedures; the chief could refer ordinance violations to district court;…
Could Terrebonne Parish drug test employees seeking promotion and randomly test safety-sensitive workers in separate pools?
The AG said a promotion could be conditioned on drug testing and random tests could cover safety- or security-sensitive jobs after a job-specific factual determination. Separate selection pools…
Could a Louisiana parish abandon a public gravel road so residents could pave it and then return it to the parish road system?
The AG said Franklin Parish could not abandon roads it intended to take back and still needed for public use. It could accept restricted donations toward paving roads already in its system, provided…
Did North Lafourche levee district commissioners have to live inside the district while serving?
Yes. The AG said commissioners of the North Lafourche Levee, Conservation, and Drainage District had to reside within its territorial limits while serving.
Did a Louisiana gene-therapy nonprofit have to bid its lab design and construction contracts, and could it build on Tulane's land?
Under its state funding agreement, the nonprofit did not have to competitively select its architect or consultant, but its construction contract had to follow public bidding rules. Building on…
Could Louisiana's Public Service Commission exempt newspaper subscription calls from the Do Not Call program?
No. The AG said the Commission could not expand the statute's political-activity exception to cover calls by qualifying newspapers, including subscription sales. That change belonged to the legislature.
Could Louisiana judges assess costs to reimburse sheriffs for bailiffs and courthouse security?
The AG said statutes supplied authority to tax litigants for a sheriff's costs and expenses related to a court proceeding. It tied the answer to those proceeding-related costs, while the judges had…
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