Home/Louisiana Court of Appeal/Lowry v. City of Oakdale

Lowry v. City of Oakdale

429 So. 2d 236, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8022
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 9, 1983
DocketNo. 82-633
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 429 So. 2d 236 (Lowry v. City of Oakdale) 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
Lowry v. City of Oakdale, 429 So. 2d 236, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8022 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

KNOLL, Judge.

The Allen Parish Coroner, James L. Low-ry, M.D., filed suit against the City of Oak-dale to collect statutory fees and reimbursement for necessary expenses incurred in connection with his investigation of certain deaths in the City of Oakdale during 1979 and 1980. After the defendant filed a peremptory exception of nonjoinder of an in-dispensible party, plaintiff supplemented his original petition to include the Allen Parish Police Jury as a party defendant and amended his original demand to properly reflect that the sum owed amounted to $3,585.00. The defendants answered the original and supplemental petition. In its answer the City of Oakdale particularly asserted that the plaintiff had not presented his fees in accordance with LSA-R.S. 33:1558 and other pertinent statutes.

[237]*237In the course of the trial Dr. Lowry stated under direct examination that the Allen Parish Police Jury did not owe him any fees or expenses in his capacity as coroner. After the trial on September 14, 1981, the district judge took the matter under advisement. On April 8, 1982, judgment was rendered in favor of Dr. Lowry and against the City of Oakdale for $3,585.00 together with legal interest from the date of judicial demand. From this adverse judgment the City of Oakdale has perfected a suspensive appeal.

James L. Lowry, M.D., is the elected coroner of Allen Parish, having served in this capacity since 1976. Prior to 1976, he worked as the Deputy Coroner of Allen Parish under the supervision of Dr. Rigsby Hargrove.

Between January 16, 1979, and August 28,1980, Dr. Lowry submitted nine itemized bills covering coroner’s fees and expenses. These nine billings included his investigation of thirty (30) deaths which occurred within the City of Oakdale.

Since January 1, 1980, Dr. Lowry has received a coroner’s salary from the Allen Parish Police Jury in the amount of $900.00 per month. Prior to that date he did not receive a monthly salary.

Appellant asserts two basic issues: (1) Is the Allen Parish coroner entitled to receive payment of fees set out in LSA-R.S. 33:1558 and necessary or unavoidable expenses from a parish municipality in addition to his monthly salary paid by the police jury? and, (2) What certification requirements did the Allen Parish coroner have to comply with to justify his expenses as being necessary or unavoidable under the provisions of LSA-R.S. 33:1558(A) and R.S. 33:1563?

CORONER’S FEES AND EXPENSES

The general provision pertaining to the coroner’s collection of fees and necessary expenses is embodied in LSA-R.S. 33:1558(A). At the time Dr. Lowry’s charges were incurred1 LSA-R.S. 33:1558(A) stated in pertinent part:

“The coroner, outside of Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, and Ascension Parish, shall receive for every investigation, twenty dollars; for viewing bodies and issuing necessary papers and reports, twenty dollars; for the performance of an autopsy a fee of not less than one hundred dollars, or not in excess of one hundred fifty dollars, at the discretion of the policy jury; .. These amounts are in addition to any necessary expenses that may be incurred. All necessary or unavoidable expenses, including supplies incident to the operation and functioning of the coroner’s office shall be paid by the parish, when such expenses shall be certified to, as being necessary or unavoidable, by the coroner. The police jury shall pay the fees and expenses for the coroner’s cases when the death occurs in the parish outside of a municipality or incorporated town, .. The municipality or incorporated town shall pay the fees and expenses of coroner cases of death, including burial of city and town paupers, when the death occurs in the corporate limit.”

R.S. 33:1558(A) provides in three parts: (1) a fee schedule setting forth amounts the coroner is to receive for performing particular tasks; (2) a policy statement that the statutory fees are to be paid in addition to any necessary expenses that may be incurred; and, (3) a set of rules for the determination of parochial or municipal liability for the payment of such fees and necessary expenses; succinctly stated: the police jury is liable for payment when the death occurs in the parish, but outside of a municipality or incorporated town; the municipality or incorporated town shall pay when the death occurs within its corporate boundaries.

[238]*238With regard to the coroner’s right to collect the “fees” designated in LSA-R.S. 33:1558(A) there exists one limitation as provided by LSA-R.S. 33:1556:

". .. If the police jury fixes the salary of the coroner, as parish physician, such salary shall be in lieu of all fees fixed in R.S. 33:1558.”

Appellant bases his first argument on this exception.

Since Dr. Lowry was paid a fixed salary from the Allen Parish Police Jury, LSA R.S. 33:1556 precludes him from receiving the coroner’s statutory fees on those deaths which occurred after January 1, 1980. R.S. 33:1556 is clear and unambiguous on this point. Its language is applied as written.

Between January 1, 1980, and August 26, 1980, Dr. Lowry submitted bills for eighteen deaths in Oakdale:

[239]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
429 So. 2d 236, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8022, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lowry-v-city-of-oakdale-lactapp-1983.