About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2018 Op. La. Att'y Gen. 1 (2018)

handle is hein.sag/sagla2018 and id is 1 raw text is: State of Louisiana DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CRIMINAL DIVISION PO BOX 94005 BATON ROUGE 70804-9005 JeffU Lidry Aitorney General JAN 0 3 2018 OPINION 17-0099 16 - A CRIMINAL LAW PROCEDURE Tommy Eschete 22 DISTRICT AND PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS Mayor, City of Thibodaux La. Const Article V. § 26 310 West Second Street La RS 13 2149 Thibodaux, Louisiana 70302 The District Attorney has exclusive authority over prosecutions for violations of state statutes The Thibodaux City Attorney does not have authority to prosecute state charges and such an action would violate the Louis ana Constitution However, the Thibodaux City Attorney is not limited to prosecutions of violations of local city ordinances Dear Mr. Eschete: Your request for an Attorney General's Opinion has been assigned to me for research and reply. You have asked the following four questions: 1) Does the District Attorney have exclusive authority over prosecutions for all violations of state statutes in City Court?; 2) Does an appointed city attorney, by virtue of R.S. 13:2149, have authority to prosecute state charges, adult and juvenile, in City Court without the consent and authority of the local District Attorney?; 3) Would such action violate the State Constitution and undermine the exclusive authority of the District Attorney?; and 4) Is the authority of a city attorney or city prosecutor limited by the Constitution and Code of Criminal Procedure to prosecutions of violations of local city ordinances? The Louisiana Constitution vests prosecutorial power in the district attorney for each district. Specifically, Article V, § 26(B) of the Louisiana Constitution dictates that a district attorney shall have charge of every criminal prosecution by the state in his district. This broad constitutional grant of authority to the district attorney supersedes the Thibodaux City Attorney's statutory grant of authority in La. R.S. 13:2149 to prosecute state misdemeanors before the city court of Thibodaux and to represent the state in juvenile matters before said court. Further, we note that the Louisiana Legislature codified this conflicting and inferior grant of statutory authority to the City Attorney of Thibodaux prior to enacting the 1974 Louisiana Constitution.

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:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most