Opinion
August 3, 2004
90 Police Juries
78 Dual Officeholding
R.S. 33:1236.1; R.S. 42:66(E)
Police juror may be employed as parish manager.
Mr. Darryl Farque Cameron Parish Police Juror 10690 Hwy 384 Lake Charles, LA 70601
OPINION NUMBER 83-308
July 12, 1983
88 — Police Jury
77 — Officers
The relationship between the St. Landry Parish Treasurer and Police Jury.
R.S. 33:1651, R.S. 33:1236(10), 33:1654-1658, 33:1236(1)
Mr. I. Jackson Burson, Jr. P. O. Box 985 Eunice, LOUISIANA 70535
Dear Mr. Burson:
You recently asked this office for an opinion concerning the St. Landry
Parish Treasurer and his relationship with the St. Landry Parish Police Jury.
Your first question asks whether the term of the treasurer is for two years or whether it ends at the same time as the abbreviated term of the jury.
LOUISIANA Revised Statute 33:1651, as amended by Acts 1981, No. 356, s 1, states that the police jury shall elect a parish treasurer for a term of two years. This statute makes no reference to the end of the treasurer's term coinciding with or overlapping the jury's term. Our conclusion is that the St.
Landry Parish Treasurer's term expires two years after taking office. The treasurer's term, therefore, will end as of June 30, 1984. Pursuant to R.S. 33:1236(10) the treasurer, as an appointee of the police jury would be subject to removal for cause prior to the expiration of the two year term.
In your second question you have asked if the police jury has the authority to set the office hours and work schedule of the treasurer. The police jury is statutorily vested with broad discretion in the establishment of ordinances for the government of the parish. [See R.S. 33:1236(1)]. The treasurer is required by R.S. 33:1651 to maintain an office. Revised Statutes 33:1654-1658 set forth the duties of the treasurer. On the basis of these statutory provisions, it is the opinion of this office that the police jury has authority to set a policy controlling the office hours and work schedule of the treasurer as long as such policy does not impair the treasurer's fulfillment of his statutory duties.
Your third question asks if the police jury may delegate to the parish manager the authority to supervise the treasurer. In National Liberty Ins. Co. of America v. Police Jury, 96 F.2d 261, 262 (5th Cir. 1938), the court stated, `In LOUISIANA the police juries are the governing bodies of the parishes . . .' In addition, R.S. 33:1236(1) states, `The police juries shall have the following powers: (1) to make regulations for their own government.'
The authority of the police jury to hire a parish manager is set forth in R.S. 33:1236.1. That statute does not provide the duties of the parish manager. However, R.S. 33:1236(10) states that the authority of the police jury includes the power:
(10) To appoint all officers necessary to carry into execution the parish regulations, and to remove them from office.
The legislature has left to the police jury much discretion in determining the duties of the parish manager. Therefore, the police jury may delegate to the parish manager those powers of supervision which the police jury has over the treasurer. The supervisory authority could not interfere with the treasurer's statutory duties.
In conclusion, the treasurer serves a two year term. As the governing authority of the parish, the police jury may set the office hours and work schedule of the treasurer as long as the police jury does not interfere with treasurer's performance of his statutory duties. The police jury's power of supervision of the treasurer may be delegated to the parish manager.
Sincrely,
William J. Guste, Jr. Attorney General
Cynthia D. Young Staff Attorney
Dear Mr. Farque:
This office is in receipt of your recent correspondence, requesting we answer the following questions: may a police juror also hold the position of parish manager? What are the duties of the parish manager?
R.S. 33:1236.1 authorizes the police jury to employ a parish manager and an assistant parish manager. The statute provides:
§ 1236.1 Power to employ parish manager and assistant parish manager The police juries shall have the power and authority to employ a parish manager and an assistant parish manager and to fix their salaries for a term not to exceed that of the police jury, who shall be registered voters in the parish and who may be members of that body, provided that if a member of the police jury be employed as parish manager or assistant parish manager upon a stipulated compensation, such compensation shall be offset by the per diem provided for police jurors under R.S. 33:1233.
§ 1233. Compensation
33:1233
A. (1) Every parish governing authority in Louisiana organized under the police jury system of government shall, by ordinance approved by a majority of the elected members of the governing authority in open public meeting, after public hearing which has been advertised in the official journal of the parish on at least two separate occasions within a period of fifteen days preceding the open meeting, provide for the method and amount of compensation and mileage to and from the meeting place to be paid the member of the police jury of that parish. (2)(a) Members of the police juries are authorized to receive compensation not to exceed fifty dollars per day and the same mileage allowance as provided to state elected officials going to and from the courthouses in their respective parishes for every day they are actually employed in the service of the parish and for travel outside of the parish on parish business. Mileage shall be charged for each day of attendance at each session of the police jury to be paid out of funds of the several parishes on the warrant of the president, provided however, that if a juror has use of a parish owned vehicle for the conduct of official business, the mileage compensation shall not be paid.
(b)(i) Police jurors shall not be paid for more than one hundred forty-four days in any one year.
(ii) No police juror shall be compensated for more than twelve meetings per month, or, in lieu of such per diem, the police jury may elect, by a vote of a majority of the elected members, to go on a salary basis, in which event the maximum salary allowable shall be one thousand two hundred dollars per month for each member of the police jury.
(iii) In the event that the police jury elects to go on a salary basis, a police juror who does not attend regular, special, or committee meetings of the police jury may be required to forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars of said salary for each nonattendance without reasonable excuse.
(iv) The police jury, by majority vote on open session, may determine on an individual basis whether a member had a reasonable excuse for nonattendance at any regular, special or committee meeting of the police jury.
(3) In addition to any other compensation or expense allowance provided by law, each parish governing authority which does not operate under a home rule charter may pay a monthly, itemized expense allowance, not to exceed two hundred dollars per month, to the members of the governing authority as payment for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. Such expense allowance shall be provided upon approval of a majority of the members of the governing authority after public hearing.
B. In lieu of the provisions of Subsection A of this Section, each member of the governing authority of East Baton Rouge Parish may be empowered to receive a travel allowance for in-parish travel which includes payment for a combination of travel and car allowance of a maximum of eight hundred dollars per month for each member. Such allowance shall be provided upon approval of a majority of the members of the local governing body after public hearing.
As quoted above, and in response to your first question, the statute permits a police jury member to be employed as parish manager or as the assistant parish manager.
Further, R.S. 42:66(E) of the Louisiana Dual Officeholding and Dual Employment Law specifically provides the following exemption: "Nothing in this part shall be construed to prevent or prohibit an elected police juror from being employed as a parish manager or assistant parish manager as authorized by Section 1236.1 of Title 33 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950."
In response to your second question, our research reflects no statute which defines the duties of the parish manager. However, R.S. 33:1236(1) authorizes police juries to make regulations for their own government. This office has previously observed that the legislature has left to the police jury "much discretion in determining the duties of the parish manager". See Attorney General Opinion 83-308, copy attached.
We hope the foregoing is helpful to you. Should you have other questions in which we may provide assistance, please contact this office.
Very truly yours,
CHARLES C. FOTI, JR. ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: _____________________________________
KERRY L. KILPATRICK ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
KLK:ams