§2158. Fees of constables; benefits for employees of constables of the city
courts of New Orleans
A. The constables of the city courts of New Orleans shall be entitled
to no more than the following fees and compensation of office in all civil
matters, and no fees or charges shall be collected by them for any service not
specifically provided for in this Subsection:
(1) Receiving, serving, and making returns thereon of any citation and
petition on each defendant or person to whom service is directed to be made,
fifteen dollars; receiving, serving, and making returns thereon of any citation
or rule for possession of premises on each defendant or person to whom
service is directed to be made, fifteen dollars.
(2) Service of subpoenas, rules, order of court, or notices on any party
to a suit or other proceedings, during the progress of suit or other proceedings
therein, after judgment rendered, where return is made by constable, including
notice of release of seizure and other notices not herein provided for, and for
making returns thereon, seven dollars and fifty cents, including the service and
return of judgment debtor rules which shall also be fifteen dollars.
(3) Service of subpoenas duces tecum on each witness and making
return thereon, fifteen dollars.
(4) Service of attachment on a witness or any person for contempt of
court to be brought into court forthwith or any subsequent time, and for return
thereon, fifteen dollars.
(5) Service of a notice of judgment and for return thereon, fifteen
dollars.
(6) Service of citation or petition of appeal for each party upon whom
service is directed to be made and for making return thereon, fifteen dollars.
(7) Executing writ of attachment, five dollars; each notice of seizure
and return thereon in connection with writ of attachment, fifteen dollars.
(8) Making and serving each notice of seizure on each garnishee under
writ of fieri facias, attachment, or sequestration, including copy and return, and
service of each answer if required, fifteen dollars.
(9) Executing writ of sequestration, or distringas, in each case, fifteen
dollars; service of each notice to defendant and return thereon in connection
with any writs covered in this Paragraph, fifteen dollars.
(10) Serving writ of injunction, certiorari, mandamus, prohibition, or
notice of demand, and making return thereon, in each case, fifteen dollars.
(11) Executing writ of habeas corpus and making return thereon, to be
charged in civil cases only, fifteen dollars.
(12) Service of notice of seizure and sale on one party and making copy
for recordation in the mortgage office when necessary and required and for
making return thereon, for all, fifteen dollars; and for service of each
additional notice of seizure and return, fifteen dollars.
(13) Making seizure under writ of fieri facias, making and serving
notice of seizure on one party and making copy for recordation in the mortgage
office when necessary or required and for return thereon, fifteen dollars;
service of each notice of seizure and return thereon, in connection with the
execution of the writ of fieri facias, fifteen dollars. Fifteen dollars shall be
charged for service of writ of fieri facias, including notice and return, over one
hundred dollars. Fifteen dollars shall be charged for service of writ of fieri
facias, including notice and return, under one hundred dollars.
(14) Advertising sale under writ of fieri facias, seizure and sale, or
other order of court, the rate established by existing laws for judicial
advertisement shall prevail, and no more.
(15) Preparing advertisements for newspapers, for each one hundred
words or part thereof, twenty dollars.
(16) Keeping property under seizure when stored in warehouse, the
usual charge of the warehousekeepers shall be allowed and no more, provided
that this shall not be so construed to bar the constable from collecting the costs
of insuring effects or for drayage or other incidental expense necessary for the
preservation or keeping of the property, and actually paid by him.
(17) For keeping property when a keeper or guardian is required, the
constable shall be allowed the actual amount paid the keeper appointed by him,
but not to exceed forty dollars, per eight hour shift, for each keeping or any
lesser period of time involved in any instance, and in all cases in which the
property under seizure is of a nature or kind requiring the constant attention of
the constable, he may appoint one or more additional keepers, for which the
allowance shall be made on the basis above set forth.
(18) Commission on sales of property made by the constable, ten
percent shall be allowed on the price of adjudication of immovable property,
and ten percent shall be allowed on the price of adjudication of movable
property; however, in any case where the amount necessary to be realized to
satisfy any writ under which the property, movable or immovable, is to be
offered by the constable is in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars, including
interest and costs, the constable and the seizing creditor may, with the approval
of the court, agree upon the fee or commission to be paid the constable for
making sale, irrespective of the rates hereinabove set forth; this agreement
shall be approved by the court prior to offer and adjudication of the property
by the constable, and no agreement shall be valid which provides for a fee or
commission in any case of less than five hundred dollars.
(19) Commission on monies realized under mesne or final process, the
same rates as in case of sale; no commission shall be allowed in cases where
nothing is realized by the plaintiff in execution or other writ except as
otherwise herein provided.
(20) Mileage when traveling outside of the parish of Orleans, the same
mileage as is allowed sheriffs of other parishes.
(21) Making return on writ, whether or not sale has been made, fifteen
dollars.
(22) Each act of sale of real property, forty-five dollars, plus the cost
of registering the act in the conveyance office and recording it in the office of
the recorder of mortgages and recording it in the office of the clerk of either
the First or Second City Court of the city of New Orleans, and all necessary
costs.
(23) Each proces verbal of sale of movable or immovable property
shall bear a charge to be fixed by the constable in his discretion, but this price
shall not exceed thirty dollars.
(24) Executing writ of possession or writ of ejectment, fifteen dollars;
if the defendant or occupants do not vacate the premises named in the writ
upon service of notice to vacate, and the constable is required to do anything
further to obtain possession, he shall be entitled to an additional fee of fifteen
dollars; but nothing herein shall be construed to bar the constable from
charging and collecting for cost of labor or other costs and expenses actually
paid or incurred by him in order to obtain possession of the premises described
in the writ.
(25) The constable is entitled to receive a fee or commission as in case
of sale in all cases where he has in his possession for execution a writ of fieri
facias, a writ of seizure and sale, or any conservatory, or other writ, under
which property is, or may be seized: (a) where there has been an adjudication
which is completed as a result of instructions given by plaintiff in writ, or for
any other reason, or (b) where plaintiff in writ receives cash or other
consideration, or both, pursuant to judgment rendered in suit in which the writ
issues, without the necessity of judicial sale, or (c) where the suit in which the
writ is issued is discontinued by plaintiff in writ, or (d) where, at the request
of the plaintiff in writ, the writ is recalled or dissolved or its further execution
discontinued, or (e) where the parties in interest make an amicable settlement,
or compromise, or enter into any other agreement under the terms of which the
writ is recalled or dissolved or its further execution discontinued; but in the
discretion of the constable, and under circumstances satisfactory to him, he
may modify or reduce any fee or commission due and payable under this
Paragraph. The fees or commissions provided for in this Paragraph shall be
due and payable in every case by the plaintiff in writ, and shall be due and
payable under circumstances above set forth, even though there has only been
a constructive seizure or where property seized under any of the writs
hereinabove enumerated shall have been released on bond. In a case where
there has been amicable settlement, by compromise or otherwise, but no
judgment rendered, this fee or commission shall be due and payable in solido
by all parties to compromise agreement, or settlement, who may be proceeded
against by the constable by rule, to be tried in a summary manner in term time
or in vacation; and
(26) For any services rendered or duties performed by the constable not
otherwise herein provided for, he shall be entitled to a fee or commission to be
determined by agreement with the parties in interest or fixed by the court on
a rule to be filed by either party, and tried in a summary manner in term time
or vacation.
(27) REPEALED BY ACTS 1995, NO. 534, §2.
B. From the fees collected by him, the constable of the first city court
of the city of New Orleans shall provide employee benefits as he deems
necessary and proper for the operation of this office including, but not limited
to, permanent membership in a municipal employee retirement system such as
the employees' retirement system of the city of New Orleans.
C. The constables of the city courts of New Orleans shall have control
over all fees, charges, and commissions collected by their respective offices
as well as all disbursements made therefrom as authorized by R.S. 13:5826 et
seq. The constable of the first city court shall cause to be conducted an audit
of all such fees, charges, and commissions collected and disbursements made
therefrom, and the books and accounts relating thereto, in accordance with
R.S. 24:513(J)(1)(c), and shall file the same with the office of the legislative
auditor where it shall be available for public inspection.
D. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A to the contrary, a
constable of the First or Second City Court of the city of New Orleans may
charge and collect a fee equal to the fee the civil sheriff of the parish of
Orleans is authorized to charge and collect for the identical service. The
provisions of this Subsection shall not authorize a constable to provide
additional services other than those services authorized by the provisions in
Subsection A of this Section.