§ 18:1354 — Parish custodian of voting machines; powers and duties; appointment of deputy

§1354. Parish custodian of voting machines; powers and duties; appointment of deputy
custodians
A.(1) The clerk of the district court is ex officio parish custodian of voting machines
in each parish, except that in any parish having a civil and a criminal district court the clerk
of the criminal district court is ex officio parish custodian of voting machines. The parish
custodian of each parish shall assist the secretary of state in the performance of his functions
within the parish.
(2) The secretary of state may fix a monthly amount to be paid to parish custodians
throughout the state as compensation for their duties in connection with elections. Any such
amount fixed shall be in conformity with a uniform compensation schedule that the secretary
of state shall adopt and that shall be based on the number of machines allocated to the
various parishes. No parish custodian shall be paid more than two hundred dollars per month
for such duties. Compensation so paid shall be paid monthly by the secretary of state from
any funds appropriated to him for the purpose.
B. In addition to any other duties vested in him by law, the parish custodian shall:
(1) Provide for the instruction of election commissioners and the issuance of
certificates of instruction as provided in R.S. 18:431 and 433.
(2) Notify the candidates in each election of the date and time when they may
examine the voting machines as provided in R.S. 18:1373.
(3) Certify that the public counters are set at zero on the machines, and certify to the
number on the protective counter or device of the machines prior to the election, as provided
in R.S. 18:1373.
(4) Supervise and have custody of the machines from the time they are taken from
the warehouses or other central point for distribution to the polling places until the machines
are turned over to the election commissioners, and from the time the machines are
surrendered by the election commissioners until they are returned to the secretary of state at
the place of storage.
(5) Be responsible for the trucking and delivery of the machines to the polling places.
Where necessary, he shall provide guards for the machines in transit and at the polling
places, and for this purpose, he may use local law enforcement officers. Upon the request
of the parish custodian, the chief administrative officer of the police force shall furnish law
enforcement officers for this purpose, and his failure to do so shall be punishable as provided
in R.S. 18:1461.3.
(6) No later than the date of the election, notify the candidates of the date, hour, and
place or places of the opening of the machines and supervise the opening of the machines.
(7) Receive from the registrar of voters the precinct register of every precinct and the
computer voter lists or the duplicate poll lists, which shall be delivered by the contractors
employed for the delivery of voting machines to the various precincts prior to the time fixed
for opening the polls.
(8) Transmit the election results to the secretary of state in the manner directed by
the secretary of state.
C.(1) The parish custodian of voting machines may employ persons on a temporary
basis, as needed, to assist him in the performance of his duties. He may appoint a deputy
parish custodian of voting machines for any polling place he deems necessary. He may not
appoint as deputy parish custodian of voting machines any person who has been convicted
of a felony for which he has not been pardoned. The parish custodian shall not appoint a
person who is a candidate or a member of a candidate's immediate family to serve in any
polling location where the candidate's name appears on the ballot. The compensation of a
deputy parish custodian shall be one hundred dollars for each election at which he serves.
The deputy parish custodian shall deliver the key envelope and the supplemental list to the
commissioner-in-charge at least one-half hour before the fixed time for the opening of the
polls.
(2) For an election held within one year following the date of the issuance of any
gubernatorial declaration of an emergency, upon application of the parish custodian of voting
machines, the secretary of state may approve the payment of up to one hundred dollars per
election as compensation to each deputy parish custodian in addition to compensation
otherwise provided for in this Subsection.

Legislative History

Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978. Amended by Acts 1977, No. 523, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Amended by Acts 1979, No. 229, §1, eff. July 13, 1979; Acts 1981, No. 77, §1, eff. June 26, 1981; Acts 1983, No. 519, §1, eff. July 8, 1983; Acts 1983, No. 681, §1, eff. July 21, 1983; Acts 1985, No. 754, §1; Acts 1995, No. 300, §1, eff. June 15, 1995; Acts 1995, No. 310, §1; Acts 2001, No. 451, §6, eff. Jan. 12, 2004; Acts 2001, No. 1181, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2002; Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 130, §1, eff. April 23, 2002; Acts 2003, No. 1220, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; Acts 2004, No. 526, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2005; Acts 2016, No. 626, §1; Acts 2017, No. 176, §1, eff. June 14, 2017; Acts 2018, No. 584, §1, eff. May 28, 2018; Acts 2019, No. 374, §1, eff. June 19, 2019; Acts 2020, 2 nd Ex. Sess., No. 11, §1, eff. Oct. 27, 2020.