Judges: JAMES D. \"BUDDY\" CALDWELL, Attorney General.
Filed Date: 11/10/2008
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Dear Mr. La Fleur:
On behalf of the mayor of Ville Platte, you have requested a legal opinion of the attorney general and ask what is the scope of the disciplinary authority of the Mayor of Ville Platte over police officers or other members of the police department. You inform us that Ville Platte is a Lawrason Act municipality and that the chief of police is an elected official.
Specifically, you ask three questions:
1. If the chief of police is elected, does La.R.S.
33:423.4 give the chief the sole discretion to discipline his officers and staff?2. Does the city of Ville Platte or the mayor of a city governed by the Lawrason Act have any authority to discipline a police officer or employee of the police department?
3. Does La.R.S.
33:404 apply to Ville Platte?
You raise these questions because attorney general opinion number 84-956 declared that special civil service legislation applicable only to the city of Kaplan gave concurrent authority to the mayor and board of aldermen of that municipality to take such disciplinary action and concluded that the act appears only to give the mayor and board of aldermen the permissive authority, concurrent with that already given to the chief of police, to discipline police personnel. However, you could not provide us with any (and there does not appear to be any) special civil service legislation for the city of Ville *Page 2 Platte granting any such authority to the mayor or board of aldermen in addition to what the Lawrason Act, as amended, now provides. Such answers your second question.
As a part of that act appearing in the Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, R.S.
In those municipalities governed by the provisions of this Part, R.S.
33:321 et seq., which have a chief of police elected by the qualified voters thereof, he [an elected chief of police] shall make recommendations to the mayor and board of aldermen for appointment of police personnel, for the promotion of officers, to effect disciplinary action, and for dismissal of police personnel.
But, then, R.S.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in and for the city of Ville Platte, the chief of police shall be authorized to take whatever steps are necessary to effect disciplinary action concerning police personnel, including but not limited to the suspension of police personnel.
In our opinion, R.S.
However, it is also our opinion that R.S.
Hence, our conclusion is that, in the city of Ville Platte, the elected chief of police has the sole discretion to discipline police personnel, up to and including suspension. However, the board, with the mayor's approval, in our opinion, retains the powers of hiring and dismissing, since those powers were left intact by R.S.
As to your third question, R.S.
We trust that this opinion has adequately answered your request, but if you have any further questions, please contact us with them. With warmest regards, we remain
*Page 1Yours very truly,
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: __________________________
THOMAS S. HALLIGAN
Assistant Attorney General
JDC/TSH/sfj
OPINION NUMBER 84-956
Mr. Bennett R. Lapoint Attorney at Law 220-A Arthur Avenue Lake Arthur, Louisiana 70549
Dear Mr. Lapoint:
You requested an opinion from this office concerning the authority of the Chief of Police for the City of Kaplan to suspend police personnel without the prior consent of the mayor and board of aldermen. You stated that the City of Kaplan is a Lawrason Act municipality governed by LSA-R.S.33:423, the applicable statute which addresses the authority of the Chief of Police. This statute has been interpreted by the courts to give a Lawrason Act Chief of Police the inherent authority to suspend police personnel. Gros v. Town of Patterson,
Section 21 of the Civil Service Act provides:
*Page 2Section 21. Removals, Suspensions, Other Corrective and Disciplinary Actions. A. The tenure of persons who have become regular and permanent employees in positions of the classified service shall be during good behavior; provided, however, that the appointing authority may remove any employee from service, or take such disciplinary action as the circumstances may warrant . . .
Appointing Authority is defined by the Act to be the mayor and board of aldermen for the City of Kaplan. According to the act, the mayor and board of aldermen may remove any municipal employee or take such disciplinary action as the circumstances warrant. LSA-R.S.
"The word `shall' is mandatory and the word `may' is permissive." (Emphasis added.)
In reading the pertinent provisions, it appears that while the Civil Service Act for the City of Kaplan gives the mayor and board of aldermen the permissive authority to suspend police personnel, it does not give them the exclusive authority. In reading the act, I see no specific language which repealed LSA-R.S.
In conclusion, it is the opinion of this office that there is no conflict between the Lawrason Act and the Civil Service Act for the City of Kaplan.
It is hoped that this opinion has been of some assistance to you. If we may be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact us.
Very truly yours,
WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR.
Attorney General
BY: __________________________
CASSANDRA A. SIMMS
Assistant Attorney General
CAS/vf