Opinion
MARCH 17, 1998
50 — Highways — Roads 90 — Police Juries LSA-R.S. 33:1236(28) LSA-R.S. 33:1242 LSA-R.S. 48:481
Discussion of St. Landry Parish Police Jury's power to impose load limits on parish roads.
Mr. I. Jackson Burson, Jr., Esq. Special Assistant District Attorney St. Landry Parish P.O. Box 985 Eunice, Louisiana 70535
Dear Mr. Burson:
You have requested an opinion from our office relative to the St. Landry Parish Police Jury (hereinafter referred to as "the Police Jury") on the following issues:
1. Does the St. Landry Parish Police Jury have statutory power to enact an ordinance establishing load limits on all parish roads?
2. If the St. Landry Parish Police Jury has such statutory power, are there any restrictions upon their exercise of this power?
3. Does the Police Jury have the statutory authority to hire enforcement personnel to enforce load limit restrictions on parish roads?
4. If the St. Landry Parish Police Jury enacts a load limit ordinance with criminal penalties, what officers are responsible for enforcement of these criminal sanctions?
LSA-R.S. 33:1236(28) gives parish governing authorities the following statutory authority:
To enact ordinances regulating the traffic on all public roads outside of incorporated municipalities and within recognized subdivisions other than state constructed and maintained streets and highways, including but not by way of limitation the right to establish speed limits and speed zones, to regulate the parking of vehicles, to establish rules and regulations for the movement of traffic, including the designation of one-way streets, and for such other similar rules and regulations; provided that insofar as such ordinances may affect state highways they shall not be in conflict with any rules and regulations established by the legislature for the use of highways forming part of the state highway system.
Additionally, LSA-R.S. 48:481 provides that:
Parish governing authorities may pass all ordinances which they think necessary relative to roads, bridges, and ditches, and may impose such penalties to enforce them as they think proper.
The courts have explicitly found that this authority to regulate traffic within its jurisdiction clearly includes the authority of the parish to establish load limits within the parish. Louisiana Materials Co., Inc. v. Cronvich, 249 So.2d 123 (La. 1997), (Louisiana Supreme Court upheld three ton load limit set by parish is well within its regulatory authority.) Bundrick v. Lafayette parish Police Jury, 462 So.2d 1319 (La.App. 3rd Cir. 1985), (Third Circuit Court of Appeal held that ten ton load limit resolution by parish was reasonable and within the police jury's regulatory authority and a constitutionally valid exercise of police power.)
Therefore, in response to your first question, the Police Jury has the authority to regulate load limits on parish roads.
You also ask if this authority is subject to any restrictions. LSA-R.S. 33:1236(18), specifically restricts such authority to the extent that the police jury's regulations cannot be in conflict with rules and regulations established by the legislature. Further, like the majority of other police power statutes, this statutory authority must be exercised in a reasonable manner. The test applied by the courts of whether an ordinance or regulation is a constitutionally valid exercise of police power depends on whether, under all the circumstances, the regulation is reasonable and whether it is designed to accomplish a purpose properly falling within the scope of the police power. Bundrick, at 1321-22. Any restriction passed by the Policy Jury would be subject to this analysis if it were challenged in a court of law.
Your third and forth questions concern the enforcement powers of these restrictions by the Police Jury. LSA-R.S. 33:1242 authorizes the Police Jury to enforce its ordinances:
Police juries may enforce ordinances which they are authorized to pass, by fine or imprisonment, or both, and may prosecute by criminal process of indictment or information or by fine or forfeiture to be collected by civil process before any court of competent jurisdiction.
However, this statute is subject to certain implicit restrictions. I have attached Opinion Numbers 89-553 and 89-553A which give a detailed analysis of these limitations.
In summary, enforcement personnel may be hired to enforce the load limits on a civil level and the Police Jury may collect any fines paid pursuant to civil sanctions. However, while the restrictions may provide for criminal penalties, the enforcement of those penalties and/or criminal fines are within the constitutional jurisdiction of the parish sheriff. Therefore, only civil penalties may be enforced by the Police Jury's enforcement personnel.
I trust this sufficiently addresses your concerns. If our office may be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours very truly,
RICHARD P. IEYOUB ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: ___________________________ CARLOS M. FINALET, III Assistant Attorney General
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Date Received: Date Released:
CARLOS M. FINALET, III Assistant Attorney General
Attachment
State of Louisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR. Baton Rouge Telephone: ATTORNEY GENERAL 504-342-7013 70804
IN RE OPINION NUMBER 89-553
OCTOBER 27, 1989
88 — POLICE JURIES LSA-R.S. 33:1236 LSA-R.S. 33:1242 Honorable Edward C. Scogin State Representative Parish governing authority may Louisiana House of Representatives enact ordinance restricting 2063 Second Street vehicle weight on parish roads, Slidell, LA 70458 and may enforce civil penalties through its own officers.
Dear Representative Scogin:
You have requested an opinion as to whether the St. Tammany Police Jury has the legal authority to create and enforce a weight enforcement program on parish roads. Parish personnel would weigh trucks and issue citations for overweight vehicles with fines to be paid to the police jury. Your counsel has advised that only law enforcement officers could enforce such an ordinance with criminal penalties.
An ordinance regulating weight limitations on parish roads is authorized by the police power delegated by the state in LSA-R.S. 33:1236(28) to the parish governing authority; however, this power is legislative in nature.
LSA-R.S. 33:1242 authorizes the governing authority to enforce the violation of ordinances, such as the proposed weight restriction ordinance, with either criminal or civil penalties. However, R.S. 33:1242 once again is a grant of legislative power, and not a grant of executive powers of enforcement. Powers of criminal enforcement are vested constitutionally in the sheriff as the chief law enforcement officer of the parish, La. Const. Art. V, § 27 (1974). Other law enforcement officers commissioned under other constitutional or statutory authority might also in fact enjoy concurrent jurisdiction with the sheriff to enforce parish ordinances, but there is no police power vested by law for criminal enforcement by arrest or citation in the police jury or its agents.
The other enforcement mechanism provided by R.S. 33:1242, the power of civil enforcement, is perfectly viable as a process for weight enforcement by the policy jury. The police jury is authorized to appoint officers to civilly execute its ordinances and regulations, R.S. 33:1236(10), and such officers could be appointed to enforce a weight restriction ordinance. Whereas the dedication of criminal fines to the police jury would be probably suffer a constitutional infirmity by its infringement of the constitutional sovereignty of the courts and legislature, respectively, such infirmity would be cured by a civil enforcement procedure wherein the police jury would act as the plaintiff seeking judicial recognition and enforcement of civil fines in those cases where the fines were not paid by consent. The enforcement officers would not issue a citation, which is criminal process, but rather a "Notice of Violation" which would become formalized into a civil petition if the fine was not paid within the prescribed period. The District Attorney, in his or her capacity as the legal adviser to the police jury, could file suit and judicially collect fines on its behalf. An agreement between the D.A. and police jury to recompense the D.A. for administrative costs in civilly enforcing the fines might be required.
In our opinion, the parish governing authority may lawfully enact an ordinance to provide for posted weight restrictions on parish roads and civilly enforce penalties for violations of the ordinance in the manner described above.
Trusting this to be of sufficient information, I am
Sincerely,
WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR. Attorney General
BY: ___________________________ Charles J. Yeager Assistant Attorney General
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Attachment
State of Louisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WILLIAM J. GUSTI, JR. Baton Rouge Telephone: ATTORNEY GENERAL 504-342-7013 70804
IN RE OPINION NUMBER 89-553A
DECEMBER 29, 1989
90 — POLICE JURIES, etc. LSA-R.S. 33:1242 Honorable Edward G. Scogin State Representative Policy jury may enact weight Louisiana House of Representatives restrictions on parish road, but 2063 2nd Street it has no criminal enforcement Slidell, Louisiana 70458 power of its own.
Dear Representative Scogin:
You have requested a reconsideration of Opinion 89-553A in order to clarify its discussion of the weight enforcement powers of the police jury.
The police jury is both a legislative and executive body politic. The scope of the powers delegated to each function are not co-extensive. For instance, while the police jury may legislatively define an act to be a crime, it does not have the executive power to enforce its own criminal enactments. The constitution designates the sheriff as the principal enforcement officer for criminal violations of either parish or state law, and it is constitutionally prohibited for the police jury to attempt to exercise criminal enforcement powers which usurp those delegated to the sheriff. You are correct that the exercise of criminal enforcement powers by the police jury would require a constitutional amendment for validity.
LSA-R.S. 33:1242 authorizes the police jury in itslegislative capacity, to provide either civil or criminal penalties for violations of its ordinances. It does not authorize the police jury to enforce those criminal penalties through its executive power.
Opinion No. 89-553 stated that the executive powers of the police jury could be used to enforce civil penalties. Civil enforcement means the filing of a lawsuit to collect civil fines imposed by ordinance for violation of the posted weight restrictions on the road. Any fines collected through civil process would be paid to the police jury. Criminal fines are remitted by the courts as provided by law, and the police jury has no claim on the disposition of those fines.
Trusting this to be of sufficient information, I am
Sincerely,
WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR. Attorney General
BY: __________________________ CHARLES J. YEAGER Assistant Attorney General
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