Opinion Number

Dear Mr. Jeanmard:

You have requested an opinion from this office regarding various appointments to the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission. The commission is supported by taxes and user fees. Members are appointed by the police jury and the mayors of the parish. The mayors make their appointments subject to approval by their boards of aldermen and the members of each ward within the police jury make their appointments by wards.

Specifically, your questions are as follows:

(1) Can a member of the Ville Platte Board of Aldermen serve on the commission if appointed by the Mayor and approved by the board of aldermen?

(2) Can a member of the Ville Platte Board of Aldermen serve on the commission if appointed by the police jury?

LSA-R.S. 42:63, dealing with dual officeholding, provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

D. No person holding an elective office in a political subdivision of this state shall at the same time hold another elective office or full-time appointive office in the government of this state or in the government of a political subdivision thereof. No such person shall hold at the same time employment in the government of this state, or in the same political subdivision in which he holds an elective office. In addition no sheriff, assessor, or clerk of court shall hold any office or employment under a parish governing authority or school board, nor shall any member of any parish governing authority or school board hold any office or employment with any sheriff, assessor, or clerk of court. (Emphasis added.)

"Elective office", "appointive office", "full time", and "part time" are defined by LSA-R.S. 42:62 as follows:

(1) "Elective office" means any position which is established or authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof, which is not a political party office, and which is filled by vote of the citizens of this state or of a political subdivision thereof.

(2) "Appointive office" means any office in any branch of government or other position on an agency, board, or commission or any executive office of any agency, board, commission, or department which is specifically established or specifically authorized by the constitution or laws of this state or by the charter or ordinances of any political subdivision thereof and which is filled by appointment or election by an elected or appointed public official or by a governmental body composed of such officials of this state or of a political subdivision thereof.

(4) "Full time" means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment and which is at least seven hours per day of work and at least thirty-five hours per week of work.

(5) "Part time" means the period of time which a person normally works or is expected to work in an appointive office or employment and which is less than the number of hours of work defined in this Section as full time.

Members of the Ville Platte Board of Aldermen hold a municipal elective office. According to information given to this office by you, members of the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission hold a part-time appointive parochial office. Since members of the commission hold only part-time appointive office, elected members of the Ville Platte Board of Aldermen are not prohibited by the Louisiana dual officeholding statute from also serving on the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission.

Trusting this to be of sufficient information, I am

Sincerely,

WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR. Attorney General

BY: ___________________________ NORMAN W. ERSHLER Assistant Attorney General

NWE:vs-04441

Dear Mr. Coriel:

We are in receipt of your opinion request on behalf of the Evangeline Parish Police Jury. Your request has been assigned to me for research and reply. You raise the following issue for our review:

Can a member of the Evangeline Parish Police Jury serve on the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission without pay?

The resolution of this matter requires review of the dual office holding and dual employment laws of the state, LSA-R.S. 42:61, et seq. We must also review Act 710 of 1984, which created the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission.

The Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission was created by the Legislature and not by the parish governing authority, the Evangeline Parish Police Jury. In Act 710 of 1984, the Legislature provided for the appointment of the commissioners. The Act states, in pertinent part:

A. The Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Disposal District shall be governed by a board of commissioners consisting of thirteen members, which board is hereby created and shall be known as the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Disposal Commission, hereafter referred to as the commission. The members of the commission shall be appointed as follows:

(1) Six commissioners shall be appointed by the governing authority of the parish of Evangeline; and

(2) Seven commissioners shall be appointed by the mayors of all municipalities within Evangeline Parish.

Again, LSA-R.S. 33:1415, reads in part, as follows:

Where a parochial or municipal governing authority is given the power to appoint members to boards or commission, whether presently or hereafter created, the governing authority shall also have the power to remove and replace the members or commissioners.

LSA-R.S. 42:64A(1), provides an exception for permitting governmental subdivisions to appoint its own members to boards or commissions created by them. That part provides, in pertinent part:

A. In addition to the prohibitions otherwise provided in this part, no other offices or employment shall be held by the same person in combination if any of the following conditions are found to pertain and these prohibitions shall exist whether or not the person affected by the prohibition exercises power in conjunction with other officers:

(1) The incumbent of one of the offices, whether or not in conjunction with fellow officers, or employment has the power to appoint or remove the incumbent of the other, except that local governmental subdivisions may appoint members of the governing body to boards and commissions created by them and over which they exercise general powers as provided in Article VI, Section 15 of the Constitution . . . (Emphasis added)

The Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission, as stated previously, is a creature of the Legislature, rather than a commission created by the parish governing authority. This office is therefore of the opinion that LSA-R.S. 42:64(a)(1) prohibits the appointment of an Evangeline Parish Police Juror member to the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission since the exception does not apply.

In Attorney General Opinion No. 91-247, we rendered an opinion holding that members of the Ville Platte Board of Aldermen did not violate the Louisiana Dual Office Holding Law by holding a part-time appointive position on the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission. That opinion did not address the fact that the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission was created by a legislative act as opposed to its creation by the parish governing authority. Because that opinion is in conflict with this opinion, Attorney General Opinion No. 91-247 is hereby recalled (attached is a copy for your review).

I hope this sufficiently addresses your concern. Should you have further inquiries which we may be of assistance, please contact this office.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: ___________________________ CHARLES H. BRAUD, JR. Assistant Attorney General

RPI:CHB:glb

Date Received: Date Released:

CHARLES H. BRAUD, JR. Assistant Attorney General

Attachment

State of Louisiana

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR. Baton Rouge ATTORNEY GENERAL AUGUST 7, 1991

IN RE OPINION NUMBER 91-247

Mr. William C. Jeanmard 77 — OFFICERS — Local and Municipal; 505 W. Wilson Street Selection, Qualifications Ville Platte, Louisiana 70586 Tenure; vacancies

78 — OFFICERS — Dual Office Holding

LSA-R.S. 42:62 (1), (2), (4) and (5); 42:63 D

Members of the Ville Platte Board of Aldermen do not violate the Louisiana dual office holding law by holding a part-time appointive position on the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission.