§ 40:537 — Removal of commissioners

§537. Removal of commissioners
A.(1) A commissioner of a local housing authority may be removed for neglect of
duty, misconduct in office, or conviction of any felony.
(2) A commissioner of a local housing authority in any municipality or parish may
be removed on any such grounds by the chief elected official of the municipality or parish
appointing the commissioner, or if no chief elected official exists, then by the governing
body thereof.
(3) A commissioner of a local housing authority in the parish of St. John the Baptist
may be removed on any such grounds by the governing body of the parish appointing the
commissioner.
(4) A commissioner of a regional or consolidated housing authority may be removed
on any such grounds by the governing body of the municipality or parish that originally
appointed the commissioner.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a commissioner of
a local housing authority in any parish with a population of not more than forty-six thousand
five hundred persons and not less than forty-five thousand five hundred persons based on the
latest federal decennial census may be removed on any such grounds by the chief elected
official appointing the commissioner.
(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the landlord
commissioner appointed pursuant to R.S. 40:531(B) may be removed by the appointing
authority for neglect of duty or misconduct in office. A landlord commissioner convicted
of a felony while serving as a commissioner shall be disqualified and removed from office
by the appointing authority.
B.(1) The chief elected official or the governing body of the municipality or parish,
as the case may be, which seeks to remove a commissioner shall send a notice of removal
to such commissioner, which notice shall set forth the charges against the commissioner.
Unless, within ten days from the receipt of such notice, such commissioner files with the
clerk or secretary of the municipality's or parish's governing body a request for a hearing
before the governing body, the commissioner shall be deemed removed from office. If a
request for hearing is so filed, the governing body of the municipality or parish, as the case
may be, shall hold a hearing, not sooner than ten days subsequent to the date a hearing is
requested, at which the commissioner shall have the right to appear in person or by counsel
and the governing body shall determine whether the removal shall be upheld. If the removal
is not upheld by the governing body, the commissioner shall continue to hold office.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the
appointing authority seeking to remove a commissioner pursuant to Paragraph (A)(6) of this
Section shall send a notice of removal to such commissioner, which notice shall set forth the
charges against the commissioner. Unless such commissioner files with the appointing
authority a request for a hearing before the appointing authority within ten days after receipt
of such notice, the commissioner is deemed removed from office. If a request for hearing
is so filed, the appointing authority shall hold a hearing no earlier than ten days after the
filing of the request for a hearing at which hearing the commissioner has the right to appear
in person or by counsel and the appointing authority shall determine whether the removal is
to be upheld. If the removal is not upheld by the appointing authority, the commissioner
shall continue to hold office.

Legislative History

Acts 1997, No. 1188, §1; Acts 2003, No. 923, §1; Acts 2011, 1 st Ex. Sess., No. 12, §1, eff. June 12, 2011; Acts 2013, No. 333, §1, eff. June 17, 2013; Acts 2014, No. 791, §14; Acts 2015, No. 419, §1.