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2021 Op. La. Att'y Gen. 1 (2021)

handle is hein.sag/sagla2021 and id is 1 raw text is: State of Louisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
Jeff Landry
Attorney General
January 14, 2021
OPINION 20-0070
The Honorable Mandy Green
Mayor of the Village of Elizabeth          71 Municipalities
230 Poplar St.                            La. R.S 18;602      La. R.S. 33:321
Elizabeth, LA 70638                        La. R.S 33:362     La. R.S. 33:381
La. R.S 33:385.1   La. R.S. 33:404
La, R.S. 33:423    La. RS. 39:1305
La, R.S. 39:1309   La R.S. 39:1310
The mayor and the board of aldermen cannot exercise the
inherent powers and authority of the elected chief of police
Dear Mayor Green:
Your request for an Attorney General's Opinion has been assigned to me for research
and reply. You have requested an opinion from this office regarding the authority of the
Mayor and the Board of Alderman over a police employee in the Village of Elizabeth.
BACKGROUND
In your request, you have provided certain background facts, which we incorporate below.
The Village of Elizabeth is a Lawrason Act' municipality with an elected
Chief of Police position. Until November 1, 2019, Shane Ware served as
the duly elected Chief of Police for the Village of Elizabeth. On that date,
Shane Ware resigned as Chief of Police. Thereafter, the Board of Aldermen
for Elizabeth appointed Scotty Paul to fill the position of Chief of Police until
a special election could be called. However, on April 9, 2020, Scotty Paul
resigned the office of interim Chief of Police. Because of a lack of qualified
candidates for the office of Chief of Police, the Board of Aldermen has not
appointed a replacement for Scotty Paul. For that reason, there is no acting
Chief of Police for the Village of Elizabeth. Currently, the Elizabeth Police
Department employs one officer. Because there is not a Chief of Police in
Elizabeth, the authority of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen over [the}
officer... is undefined.
Based on this background information, you have requested an opinion from this office on
the following questions:

' See La. R.S. 33:321, et seq.

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