§ 33:2536 — Fire and police civil service boards

Louisiana § 33:2536

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 33: Municipalities and Parishes

Text

§2536. Fire and police civil service boards
A. A fire and police civil service board is hereby created in the municipal, parish, or
fire protection district which shall be composed of five members who shall serve without
compensation. This board shall have a chairman, vice-chairman and a secretary. The
domicile of the board shall be within the area it serves.
B.(1)(a) To be eligible for appointment or to serve as a member of a board, a person
shall be a citizen of the United States of America, a resident of the area for which fire or
police protection is provided for at least five years next preceding his appointment, and at
the time of his appointment a qualified voter of the area.
(b) However, with respect to the two members elected by and from the fire and the
police departments as provided in Paragraph (C)(3) of this Section, such members shall have
been residents of the parish in which the area they are to serve is located for a period of at
least five years preceding their appointment, provided such residence requirement is
approved by resolution of the local governing authority.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this Paragraph,
the two members elected by and from the fire and the police departments as provided in
Paragraph (C)(3) of this Section shall not be required to be residents or qualified voters of
the area in which they are appointed to serve or residents of the parish in which the area is
located provided that such exceptions are approved by resolution of the local governing
authority.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the governing body
of the respective parish, municipality, or fire protection district shall conduct a background
check on any person who is under consideration for appointment to the board. No person is
eligible for appointment or may serve as a member of the board if his background check
reveals that either of the following has occurred in the ten years immediately preceding his
appointment:
(i) He has been convicted of a felony.
(ii) He has committed a civil rights violation, as determined by a legally binding
agreement or finding.
(2)(a) Any employee, while serving as a member of a board, shall occupy, as a
regular employee, a position or office lower than that of chief, assistant chief, district chief,
or battalion chief in the fire service; or a position or office lower than that of chief, assistant
chief, or major in the police service.
(b) No member of a board shall have been, during a period of six months
immediately preceding his appointment, a member of any local, state, or national committee
of a political party, or an officer or member of a committee in any factional political club or
organization.
(c) No member of a board shall be a candidate for nomination or election to any
public office or hold any other public office or position of public employment, except that
of notary public, a military or naval official office, or that of a municipal, parish, or fire
protection district fire or police department which is expressly required by the provisions of
this Part.
C.(1)(a) The first five members of a board shall be appointed by the governing body
of the municipality, parish, or fire protection district, as the case may be, during the ninety-day period immediately following the date that this Part takes effect in a municipality, parish,
or fire protection district under R.S. 33:2531.
(b) If the governing body fails to appoint the members as required in Subparagraph
(a) of this Paragraph and the state examiner has given written notification to the governing
body of its failure to appoint such members, then the governing board shall make the
appointments within ninety days following such notification.
(c) If the governing body fails to make appointments as required in Subparagraphs
(a) and (b) of this Paragraph, then the state examiner shall seek a writ of mandamus which
shall lie to the court of original and unlimited jurisdiction in the parish in which the office
of state examiner is domiciled.
(2) The members of the board shall be appointed by the governing body as follows:
(a) One shall be appointed by the governing body upon its own nomination.
(b)(i) Two members shall be appointed from a list of four nominees which shall be
furnished, within sixty days after the governing authority makes a request by certified letter
for such list, by the executive head of a regularly chartered and established four-year
institution of higher education located within the area served; or, if there is no such
institution in the area served, by the executive head of such an institution which is within the
state and which is the most geographically proximate to the area served.
(ii) If a list of nominations is not submitted within sixty days after submission of
request for such list, such failure shall be considered a failure to perform a ministerial duty
required by law of a public official or corporate officer. To this end, the district attorney for
the parish in which the institution is located shall provoke the issuance of a writ of
mandamus to compel the official or officer to act as provided by law.
(3)(a) Two members shall be appointed who shall be first nominated and elected by
and from the regular employees of the fire and police department as follows:
(i) One member shall be elected and appointed from the fire department.
(ii) One member shall be elected and appointed from the police department.
(b)(i) The employee-nominee from each department shall be elected by secret ballot
of the regular employees of his respective department at an election to be called and held for
that purpose by the chief of the department.
(ii) If, after the close of nominations for the employee member for the respective
department, the name of only one regular employee has been placed in nomination, that
nominee shall be declared elected.
(iii) If more than one name is placed in nomination, the chief shall call an election
within forty-five days after this Section takes effect in the area affected by posting, for a
fifteen-day continuous period immediately preceding the election, a notice thereof on the
bulletin board of each station house of his department. The chief shall officially notify the
governing body of the area affected within the ten-day period immediately following the
election, the name of the employee-nominee so elected by the regular employees of his
department. The chief of the department shall vote in the election only in the case of a tie
vote.
D. The term of office for all members of the board shall be for a period of three
years, except that the first member appointed by the governing body of a municipality, parish
or fire protection district upon its own nomination shall serve for a period of two years; the
first employee-members nominated and appointed as provided above shall serve a term of
one year, and the members appointed as provided in Paragraph (C)(2) of this Section shall
serve a term of three years. Each member shall serve until his successor has been appointed
and qualified.
E. Upon the expiration of the term of office of any member of a board, or whenever
a vacancy in the office of any member thereof occurs, the governing body of the
municipality, parish or fire protection district, as the case may be, shall appoint a successor
in the same manner as the outgoing member was appointed; and such successive appointment
shall be made within ninety days after the expiration or vacancy occurs.
F. Each member shall take the oath of office before entering upon the duties of his
office. His oath shall include a statement to uphold the constitution and laws of Louisiana
and of the United States and to administer faithfully and impartially the provisions of this
Part and the rules adopted under the authority of this Part.
G. Members of such a board serving under Act 102 of 1944 or under R.S. 33:2471
through 2476 at the time this act takes effect shall continue in office until the expiration of
the term for which they were appointed.
H. Any member of a board shall be liable to removal from office by judgment of the
court of original and unlimited jurisdiction in civil suits of the parish wherein the board is
domiciled for high crimes and misdemeanors in office, incompetency, corruption, favoritism,
extortion, oppression in office, gross misconduct, or habitual drunkenness. The district
attorney of the district wherein the board is domiciled shall institute such suit upon the
written request, specifying the charges, of twenty-five citizens and taxpayers of the
municipality, parish or fire protection district, as the case may be. The district attorney shall
associate in the diligent prosecution of such suit any attorney selected and employed by the
citizens and taxpayers.
I. The governing body of the municipality, parish or fire protection district shall
advise, within the ninety-day period provided for the appointment of the board members,
each appointee of his appointment and term of office as a member of the fire and police civil
service board, and an official record thereof shall be placed in the official minutes of the
governing body.
J. The original members of the board shall meet within thirty days after their
appointment in their first official meeting, and at said meeting they shall take the oath of
office, elect a chairman and vice-chairman and transact any other necessary business. The
oath of office shall be administered by any person having the legal authority to administer
oaths.
K. A chairman and vice-chairman shall be elected by the members of the board for
terms which shall run concurrently with that for which each was appointed to serve as a
member of the board, however, the term of either office shall terminate upon death of the
incumbent or upon his resignation from the office or from the board or his removal from the
board.
L.(1) At the discretion of the board, the office of the secretary shall be filled in one
of the following ways:
(a) By electing one of its members thereto.
(b) By appointing the city clerk, parish treasurer, or secretary of the fire protection
district, as the case may be, to fill such office ex officio.
(c) By employing and paying on a part-time basis any other person a salary not to
exceed seven hundred fifty dollars per month which salary shall be approved by the
municipal governing authority.
(2) The secretary shall serve at the pleasure of the board. No person serving as
secretary of a board, except a member thereof, shall have the right to vote in its proceedings.
The secretary shall attend all meetings of the board, keep a record of its proceedings, attend
to correspondence directed to him and other correspondence ordered by the chairman,
perform other functions assigned to him by the board, and cooperate with the state examiner
in such manner as will assist the examiner effectively to carry out the duties imposed upon
him by this Part or those functions which may be requested of him by the board.
M. The board shall meet at any time after its original meeting upon the call of the
chairman, who shall give all members of the board due notice thereof. The chairman of the
board shall call, and the members of the board shall attend, one regular meeting of the board
within each quarterly period of each calendar year. If a chairman fails or refuses to call such
quarterly meeting of his board, the members of the board shall meet upon the written call of
any two members mailed ten days in advance of the meeting. Two members of a three-member board and four members of a five-member board shall constitute a quorum, and the
concurring votes of a simple majority of members shall be sufficient for the decision of all
matters to be decided or transacted by it. Meetings of the board shall be open to the public.
N. In any municipality, parish or fire protection district otherwise amenable to the
provisions of this Part where either the fire or police service shall, for any reason, not be
subject to this Part, then, and in such event, the board shall be comprised of three members,
with only one member to be selected in accordance with the provisions of Subsection (C)(2)
of this Section and only one member to be nominated by the service remaining, be it fire or
police, as is provided in Subsection (C)(3) of this Section; all other provisions hereof to
remain and be fully effective even though only one of the services, whether it be fire or
police, are affected hereby.

Legislative History

Acts 1964, No. 282, §1. Amended by Acts 1965, No. 146, §1; Acts 1980, No. 84, §1; Acts 1984, No. 274, §1; Acts 1997, No. 516, §1, eff. July 3, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 524, §1; Acts 1999, No. 454, §1; Acts 1999, No. 455, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1177, §1; Acts 2010, No. 627, §1, eff. July 1, 2010; Acts 2016, No. 667, §1, eff. June 17, 2016; Acts 2021, No. 280, §1.