Opinion Number

Dear Mayor Brown:

You present the following legal question for our resolution:

Can a Town by ordinance extend it's corporate boundaries to include property which the Town is the sole owner of and which is contiguous to the existing corporate limits of the Town?

We respond in the affirmative. Land which is wholly owned by the municipality is properly annexed into municipal limits by R.S. 33:180, providing:

§ 180. Ordinance to annex territory owned by a public body

A. The governing body of any municipality other than the city of New Orleans may, by ordinance, enlarge the boundaries of the municipality to include territory within which all of the land is owned by a state agency, political subdivision, or public body, but only upon petition of the governing body of the agency, political subdivision, or public body owning the land which is to be so included. Except as otherwise provided by this Section, the governing body of the municipality may, in its discretion, upon majority vote thereof, adopt such an ordinance without the necessity of compliance with any of the procedures of advertisement, petition by residents, public hearing, or other procedures set forth in this Subpart.

B. No municipality may annex the paved portion of a public road without including in such annexation all property adjacent to at least one side of the road, the paved portion of which is included in the annexation.

C. A municipality may annex a portion of the right-of-way of a public road as a corridor connecting other property which is not contiguous to the municipality but which is to be annexed without including the property adjacent to the corridor. Any annexation pursuant to this Subsection shall be in accordance with the following:

(1) The municipality shall, by certified mail, notify the state agency or political subdivision which owns the road proposed to be annexed at least thirty days prior to the introduction of the ordinance proposing such annexation.

(2) The petition or written consent of the state agency or political subdivision must be received by the municipality prior to the adoption of the ordinance.

In this instance, the governing authority of the municipality must petition for its annexation and an ordinance must be adopted so extending the corporate limits. This may be done "without the necessity of compliance with any of the procedures of advertisement, petition by residents, public hearing, or other procedures set forth in this Subpart." R.S. 33:180(A), quoted above. We also attach a copy of Attorney General Opinion 90-197, which reaches a similar result.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: ___________________________ KERRY L. KILPATRICK ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

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Date Released: November 29, 2001

OPINION NUMBER 90-197

June 15, 1990

71 — MUNICIPALITIES LSA-R.S. 33:172
LSA-R.S. 33:180

Land wholly owned by municipality may be annexed by ordinance with petition, hearing or election; contiguous landowners may petition for annexation according to law.

Mr. L. Charles Minifield, Esq. City Attorney City of Minden P.O. Box 580 Minden, LA 70804-9005

Dear Mr. Minifield:

You have requested an opinion regarding the legality of different procedures by the City of Minden to enlarge the corporate limits of the municipality.

The Minden airport is wholly owned by the City of Minden but not contiguous or adjacent to the corporate limits of the City of Minden. It was annexed by Ordinance 690 in 1985, without petition or election.

The airport is lawfully annexed into the city corporate limits by authorization of LSA-R.S. 33:180. This statute does not require the land annexed to be contiguous or adjacent if it is publicly owned and the governing authority of the public owner petitions for its annexation. R.S. 33:180 authorizes annexation where these two requirements are met without petition, hearing or election.

With regard to your second question, whether the landowners surrounding the airport may now also petition for annexation since their property is contiguous and adjacent to the airport, the answer is affirmative. The annexation procedure must conform to LSA-R.S. 33:172. Copies of recent Opinions No. 89-57 and 89-57A of the Attorney General, which analyze this statute, are attached for your information about the annexation procedure.

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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