§ 33:1 — Petition for incorporation; contents; circulation; required signatures

Louisiana § 33:1

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 33: Municipalities and Parishes

Text

§1. Petition for incorporation; contents; circulation; required signatures
A. Residents of any unincorporated area with a population in excess of two hundred
inhabitants may propose the incorporation of the area as provided in this Subpart. The
secretary of state shall provide a form approved by the attorney general to be used for the
petition for an incorporation election. Such form shall be in conformity with the provisions
of this Section and R.S. 18:3. All incorporation petitions shall be on an approved form or
on a form which contains the same information as required on the approved form and any
petition not on such form shall be invalid. The incorporation petition shall include the
following information:
(1) A legal description of the area proposed for incorporation, a map of the area
proposed for incorporation, and the statement that all lands included in the area constitute
a contiguous area. The description shall also include a list of every parish in which the
proposed area of incorporation is wholly or partially situated.
(2) A statement of the number of inhabitants residing in the unincorporated area of
the proposed incorporation. Such statement shall be based on the latest federal decennial
census or another current population report or count which is verifiable.
(3) A statement of the assessed value of the immovable property located in the
unincorporated area.
(4) A listing of the public services the municipal corporation proposes to render to
the area and a plan for the provision of these services.
(5) A statement of the corporate name desired for the new municipality.
(6) The names of two persons, who shall be designated as chairperson and vice
chairperson, for the petition for incorporation who shall serve as agents for the petitioners
in all legal matters, including the receipt of notices. Notice will be sufficient if served on the
chairperson or vice chairperson. If the chairperson is unable to carry out the duties required
in this Section, the vice chairperson shall carry out such duties.
B.(1)(a) Prior to entering any signatures, the chairperson shall file a copy of the
incorporation petition with the secretary of state who shall endorse thereon the fact and date
of filing. The petition shall be considered filed when it is received in the office of the
secretary of state, or at the time it is postmarked by the United States Postal Service or is
receipted on a return receipt request form, if it is subsequently received in the office of the
secretary of state. The secretary of state shall notify the chairperson of the filing date within
ten business days, by hand delivery or certified mail, return receipt requested. No signatures
for incorporation shall be collected until the chairperson receives notice of the filing date.
(b) The secretary of state shall immediately transmit, by mail or electronically, a copy
of the filed petition to the registrar of voters for each parish in which the proposed
incorporated area is situated. Within ten business days after the date of the receipt of the
incorporation petition, the registrar of voters for each parish in which the proposed
incorporated area is situated shall transmit to the chairperson and the secretary of state, by
mail or electronically, a notice of the number of electors residing within the area proposed
for incorporation as of the date the notice is sent to the chairperson and the secretary of state.
(c) No copy of an incorporation petition shall be filed with the secretary of state
within a period beginning thirteen days prior to the date of any election through ten days after
the date of that election.
C.(1) The signatures of twenty-five percent of the electors residing in the area
proposed for incorporation shall be required in order to file the signed petition as provided
in R.S. 33:2(A).
(2) The chairperson shall submit the signed and dated petition for certification to the
registrar of voters for each parish in which the proposed incorporated area is situated.
However, not less than fourteen days prior to submitting the signed and dated petition for
certification, the chairperson shall provide written notice by certified mail, return receipt
requested, or by hand delivery receipted on a return receipt request form to the registrar of
voters for each parish of his intention to submit the petition for certification. The chairperson
shall submit the signed and dated petition for certification not later than:
(a) One hundred and eighty days after the date on which he receives notice of the
date of endorsement by the secretary of state, if fewer than ten thousand qualified electors
reside within the area proposed for incorporation.
(b) Two hundred and seventy days after the date on which he receives notice of the
date of endorsement by the secretary of state, if ten thousand or more qualified electors reside
within the area proposed for incorporation.
(3)(a) The chairperson shall attach to the signed and dated petition an affidavit
attesting to the fact that no signatures were obtained prior to the receipt of notice of the
endorsement date.
(b) If the chairperson fails to submit the affidavit and the signed and dated petition
within the time period specified in this Subsection, the registrar of voters shall not review
the petition to determine whether it contains the required signatures as provided in R.S. 33:2,
and no copy of a petition for incorporation that proposes to incorporate the same area shall
be filed with the secretary of state for at least sixty days.
D.(1) The handwritten signatures of the electors must reasonably correspond with
their signatures on file in the office of the registrar of voters. All electors residing in the area
proposed for incorporation shall be eligible to sign the petition. More than one copy of the
petition may be circulated but the signature of an elector shall be counted only one time in
the calculation of the twenty-five percent required by R.S. 33:2.
(2) Prior to certification of a signed and dated petition as provided in R.S. 33:2(C)
but not more than five days after a signed and dated petition is submitted for certification
pursuant to Subsection C of this Section, whichever is earlier, the registrar of voters shall
honor the written request of any elector who desires to have his handwritten signature either
stricken from or added to the signed and dated petition. The written request of the elector
shall include the name and address of the elector, the date of birth of the elector, the signature
of the elector, and the date of the request.
E.(1) A signed and dated petition, including an elector's name, address, and
signature, shall be a public record as of the date that written notice is given by the
chairperson pursuant to Subsection C of this Section. However, the elector's day and month
of birth shall be redacted or not disclosed as provided in R.S. 18:154. The written request
of the elector to have his signature stricken from or added to a petition pursuant to Paragraph
(D)(2) of this Section shall also be a public record, except for the elector's day and month of
birth as provided in R.S. 18:154.
(2)(a) Prior to submitting a signed and dated petition to the registrar of voters
pursuant to Subsection C of this Section, the chairperson shall be the custodian of any such
petition.
(b) Upon receipt of a signed and dated petition submitted by the chairperson pursuant
to Subsection C of this Section, the registrar of voters shall be the custodian of the petition.
(c) The petition and the custodian of the petition shall be subject to all the provisions
of R.S. 44:31 et seq.
F. If the final day for any action required in this Section falls on a Saturday, Sunday,
or legal holiday, the deadline shall be on the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or
legal holiday.
G. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, during the time period
granted to a chairperson to submit a petition for certification pursuant to Subsection C of this
Section, no municipality shall annex any area included within an area proposed for
incorporation as described in a petition which has been filed with the secretary of state. Any
annexation in violation of this Subsection shall be null and void ab initio.

Legislative History

Acts 1984, No. 536, §1, eff. Sept. 1, 1984; Acts 1999, No. 425, §1; Acts 2016, No. 376, §1; Acts 2019, No. 335, §1, eff. June 11, 2019.