§ 38:306 — General powers and duties of board

Louisiana § 38:306

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 38: Public Contracts, Works and Improvements

Text

§306. General powers and duties of board
A. Each board of commissioners may buy and hold, sell and transfer, or exchange
property, make and execute contracts, and do and perform any and all acts necessary to insure
the thorough and adequate protection of the lands of the district from damage by flood, and,
in the case of levee and drainage boards, for the adequate drainage control of the district.
B. The board of commissioners shall adopt bylaws for its own government and for
the government of its officers and employees. It shall devise and adopt rules and regulations
for the carrying into effect and perfecting of a comprehensive levee system, having for its
object the protection of the entire district from overflow. The board shall keep a record of
all its proceedings.
C. The board shall examine all of the accounts and operations of the board and
determine in what manner work shall be undertaken. The board shall also be invested with
the control of all public levees in the district, with authority to require the Department of
Transportation and Development or the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board,
if the area is located within the coastal area, as defined in R.S. 49:214.2, and involves
integrated coastal protection, as defined in R.S. 49:214.2, to lay off, furnish estimates, and
perform all engineering work necessary to the location, construction, and repairs of levees,
reserving, however, the right to the parishes in which the levees are located, also to provide
funds and to construct and repair levees and exercise the powers now conferred to it by law.
All works shall be advertised in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 38:2211 et seq., to
be let out by means of sealed proposals to the lowest responsible bidder, reserving to the
board authority to reject all bids. In case of emergency as defined in R.S. 38:2211(A), the
board may make contracts for the building and repair of and guarding the levees without
advertisement or sealed proposals. It shall use all means at its command to strengthen,
repair, or construct any portion of the levees that may demand attention.
D. The board of commissioners shall cause to be kept an exact and accurate
statement of the work performed by the authority of the board, giving in detail the work
done, the levees built or repaired, and all other work done or authorized to be done by the
board. The board shall keep an accurate account of the finances of the levee district and
annually cause to be made a statement showing the exact, accurate, and true condition of the
finances of the district, showing specially the receipts and resources thereof in detail, the
amount and character of each amount of money or assets received, whether in money, bills
of exchange, bills receivable, property, or other things of value. The account shall show in
detail the expenditures made by authority of the board, the costs of levees built or repaired,
salaries paid, property purchased, costs of work done, other incidental expenditures not
herein mentioned, and any and all expenditures made by authority of the board. It shall show
the balances on hand, all details of the various money, money fines, or things of value at the
time of the statement. The statement shall be made in triplicate, one copy of which shall be
forwarded to the governor, one copy shall be forwarded to the legislative auditor, and one
copy shall be kept on record in the files and records of the board. A representative of the
Department of Transportation and Development shall attend each regular meeting of the
levee board and such other meetings if requested by the board, and to report to and advise
it as to the location, construction, and repairs of all levees in the district. The Department
of Transportation and Development shall be responsible for locating all levees, furnishing
estimates and specifications, and performing all engineering work required of them by the
levee board or levee and drainage board.
E. The provisions of this Section shall apply to all boards of commissioners
established under this Chapter, except for provisions specifically applicable to a particular
board.

Legislative History

Acts 1985, No. 785, §1, eff. July 22, 1985; Acts 1999, No. 731, §1, eff. July 1, 1999; Acts 2012, No. 601, §1, eff. June 7, 2012; Acts 2012, No. 753, §5; Acts 2016, No. 430, §4.