Law Enforcement District of Avoyelles v. Avoyelles Parish Police Jury

736 So. 2d 842, 98 La.App. 3 Cir. 996, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 217, 1999 WL 44894
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 3, 1999
DocketNo. 98-996
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 736 So. 2d 842 (Law Enforcement District of Avoyelles v. Avoyelles Parish Police Jury) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Law Enforcement District of Avoyelles v. Avoyelles Parish Police Jury, 736 So. 2d 842, 98 La.App. 3 Cir. 996, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 217, 1999 WL 44894 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

|,YELVERTON, J.

There are two issues in this case. The first is whether the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury had the power to remove and replace members of the Gaming Revenue Distribution Committee (the committee) that had been recognized by La.R.S. 33:3005. The second is whether the newly constituted [843]*843committee properly ^determined the proportion of gaming revenue funds to be distributed to political subdivisions of the Parish of Avoyelles.

BACKGROUND FACTS

In 1992 the Tuniea-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana entered into a Tribal-State Compact with the State of Louisiana for the Conduct of Class III Gaming. Among its other provisions, the compact obligated the Tribe to make quarterly financial contributions to the State to offset and defray the expenses resulting from the conduct of Class III gaming in Avoyelles Parish.

In October 1994 the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury created a special account for, casino gaming revenues dedicated to local government and appointed a committee, calling it the Gaming Revenue Distribution Committee, to help determine how the proceeds paid by the Tribal Casino under the compact should be distributed. The original committee was composed of eight members identified as:

1) State Senator
2) State Representative
3) Sheriff
4) District Attorney
5) President of the Police Jury or his representative
6) President of the School Board or his representative
7) President of Parish Mayors Council or his representative
8) Representative of the Tribe

This committee determined at its first meeting in 1994 that the initial proportions for the distribution of the funds were to be as follows:

Police Jury 25%
School Board 15%
Law Enforcement 80%
District Attorney 5%
Municipalities 25%

lain 1995 the Louisiana Legislature passed Act 1060, a local or special law which became La.R.S. 33:3005, to provide for the allocation and use of monies by the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury in a fund which it designated the Local Government Gaming Mitigation Fund. This statute is set forth in full as follows:

A. Beginning October 1, 1995, and each quarter thereafter, as received, the state treasurer shall credit to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund all financial contributions received by the state of Louisiana under the provisions of that compact between the state and the Tuniea-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana entitled, “Tribal-State Compact for the Conduct of Class III Gaming Between the Tuniea-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana and the State of Louisiana”, as amended and hereinafter known as the “compact”; and after a sufficient amount is allocated from that fund to pay all the obligations secured by the full faith and credit of the state which become due and payable within any fiscal year, the treasurer shall pay the remainder of such funds into a special fund which is hereby created in the state treasury and designated as the “Avo-yelles Parish Local Government Gaming Mitigation Fund”, hereinafter referred to as the “fund”.
B. The monies in the fund shall be subject to an annual appropriation by the legislature and shall be used solely to offset and defray the expenses of certain political subdivisions within Avo-yelles Parish as provided in Subsection C of this Section which result from the conduct of Class III gaming. All unex-pended and unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of each fiscal year shall remain in the fund; the treasurer shall invest all monies in the fund in the same manner as the monies in the state general fund and all interest earned shall remain to the credit of the fund.
C. Within ten days of the deposit of the monies into the fund each quarter, the state treasurer shall, in accordance with the provisions of Subsection B of [844]*844this Section, remit all such monies to the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury. The Avo-yelles Parish Police Jury shall, within ten days of the receipt of such monies, distribute all such funds to the governing authority of the political subdivisions of Avoyelles Parish as determined by the |4Gaming Revenue Distribution Committee created by the parish governing authority.
D. Notwithstanding Subsection C, the funds will be distributed as follows for the first year, beginning October 1, 1995:
(1) Avoyelles Parish Police Jury-twenty-five percent.
(2) Avoyelles Parish Law Enforcement District-thirty percent.
(3) The district attorney for the Twelfth Judicial District-five percent.
(4) Avoyelles Parish School Board-fifteen percent.
(5) The municipalities in Avoyelles Parish-twenty-five percent, to be distributed to the individual municipalities in accordance with a formula developed by the Avoyelles Parish Mayors Association and approved by the police jury.
E. The Gaming Revenue Distribution Committee shall meet annually prior to October first each year to determine the proportion of funds to be distributed to each political subdivision of the parish. The Avoyelles Parish Mayors Association shall develop a formula for the distribution of the revenues allocated for the municipalities in the parish.

Before continuing our narration of the background facts, we pause to make a few observations about this special statute. For one thing, it did not create the Gaming Revenue Distribution Committee. Subsection C merely recognized the existence of the committee already created by the parish governing authority. Subsection C bestowed upon that committee the authority to determine the distribution of the funds to political subdivisions of the parish. Subsection D provided a plan of distribution for the first year, beginning October 1, 1995, only. Subsection E mandated that the committee meet annually thereafter prior to October | ¡¡first each year, to determine the plan of distribution. The statute is silent as to the membership of the committee. That the committee is but an arm or agency of the parish governing authority is made clear in Subsection C which provides that the state treasurer shall remit the monies in the fund to the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury, and the same subsection also declares that it is the Avo-yelles Parish Police Jury which shall distribute the funds to the governing authority of the political subdivisions of Avoyelles Parish.

Continuing with our narration of the background facts, we note that, although the committee had the authority to change the allocation for the year beginning October 1, 1996, apparently no changes occurred. However, on August 12, 1997, the Police Jury met and replaced the membership of the committee, and the committee later made changes in the allocation. The new committee members were:

1) 3 representatives from the Police Jury
2) 1 representative from the Mayors Association
3) 1 representative from the School Board

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Related

Opinion Number
Louisiana Attorney General Reports, 2003

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736 So. 2d 842, 98 La.App. 3 Cir. 996, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 217, 1999 WL 44894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/law-enforcement-district-of-avoyelles-v-avoyelles-parish-police-jury-lactapp-1999.