About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

2008-2009 Louisiana Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2008-2009)

handle is hein.sag/sagla0008 and id is 1 raw text is: March 12, 2008
Opinion No. 08-0001
88           POLICE JURIES - In General
Michael L. Hughes                   90-A-2 PUBLIC FUNDS Loan, Pledge or Grants
First Assistant District Attorney   La. Const. art. VI, § 23
La. Const. art. VI I, § 14(A)
Twentieth Judicial District         La. R.S. 33:4712.10
Post Office Box 338
PostOffie Bo 338The appraisal obtained by the seller of the four acre unimproved tract
Jackson, Louisiana 70748            of land in West Feliciana Parish cannot be used to determine the fair
market value of the land because it includes the value of
improvements proposed to be made to the property after purchase by
Dear Mr. Hughes:                    the police jury, in violation of La. R.S. 33:4712.10.
Your request for an Attorney General's Opinion has been assigned to me for
research and reply. You have asked for our opinion regarding the validity of two
appraisals of a four acre unimproved tract of land in West Feliciana Parish which
the West Feliciana Parish Police Jury proposes to acquire for use as a sewerage
treatment facility.
Article VI, § 23 of the Louisiana Constitution authorizes political subdivisions to
acquire property. It provides:
Subject to and not inconsistent with this constitution and subject to
restrictions provided by general law, political subdivisions may
acquire property for any public purpose by purchase, donation,
expropriation, exchange, or otherwise.
When a political subdivision purchases property with a value greater than
$3,000.00, La. R.S. 33:4712.10 requires an appraisal:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law  to the contrary, no
political subdivision shall purchase immovable property with a value
greater than three thousand dollars unless prior to such purchase
the property has been appraised by a qualified appraiser. No such
appraisal shall include the value of improvements proposed to be
made to the property after purchase by the political subdivision.
The purchase of immovable property for a price that exceeds the appraised value
of the property would be tantamount to a donation of public funds; and therefore,
a violation of Article VII, § 14(A) of the 1974 Constitution. La. Atty. Gen. Op.
Nos. 99-251, 89-581.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most