2009 Louisiana Laws TITLE 40 Public health and safety :: RS 40:600.5 Officers of the agency; duties; liability

§600.5.  Officers of the agency; duties; liability

A.(1)(a)  The commissioners shall annually elect one of their members as chairman and another of their members as vice chairman.

(b)  The commissioners shall also elect or appoint and prescribe the duties of such other officers, who need not be commissioners, as the agency deems necessary or advisable including a president who shall be the chief executive officer of the agency and a state officer and a vice president who shall be assistant Chief Executive Officer and a state officer.

(c)  In addition the commissioners shall select a secretary who may be the same person as the president or vice president.

(d)  The president shall administer, manage, and direct the affairs and business of the agency subject to the policies, control, and direction of the commissioners.

(e)  The secretary shall keep a record of all proceedings of the agency and shall be custodian of all books, documents, and papers filed with the agency.

(f)  In addition, the secretary shall be custodian to the official minute book of the agency and its official seal.

(g)  The secretary may make official true copies of any documents of the agency.

(2)(a)  The president shall submit a staffing plan to the board for its approval, which shall include the number and types of staff positions and the salary range for each position that the president deems necessary to effectively and efficiently implement and administer the programs necessary and authorized to fulfill the purpose of the agency.

(b)  After the commissioners have approved such a staffing plan, the president shall have sole authority to employ persons to fill the approved positions and he shall have sole authority to terminate persons holding such positions, but only the commissioner shall have such authority regarding the vice president.

(c)  Any variances from or changes in the approved staffing plan shall be approved by the board prior to implementation.

(3)(a)  The commissioners shall also employ legal, financial, technical experts and consultants, and such other officers, agents, and permanent and temporary employees as the agency deems necessary or advisable and shall determine their qualifications, duties, and compensation consistent with civil service requirements, if applicable.

(b)  The agency may delegate to one or more of its commissioners, officers, employees, or agents such powers and duties as it may deem proper.

(c)  The president, vice president, and secretary and other non-clerical employees shall be in the unclassified state service.

(d)  Any other non-clerical employee hired after July 1, 1984 may be in the unclassified service as determined by the agency.

(e)  The agency shall determine which employees, other than the president, shall be state officers.

B.  The powers of the agency shall be vested in the commissioners thereof in office from time to time.  A majority of the commissioners of the agency shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business and for the exercise of any power or function of the agency.  No vacant office shall be included in the determination of the number of commissioners necessary to establish a quorum.  No vacancy in the office of commissioner of the agency shall impair the rights of a quorum of commissioners to exercise any power or function of the agency.  Action may be taken by the agency upon an affirmative vote of a majority of the commissioners present.  Meetings of the agency may be held anywhere within the state.

C.  Appointed commissioners may receive fifty dollars per diem for attendance at meetings of the agency and may be reimbursed by the agency for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as commissioners.  All other commissioners shall be reimbursed by the agency for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as commissioners, but shall not receive a per diem allowance.

D.  The agency shall adopt bylaws for its own government, provided that such bylaws shall not conflict with any of the provisions of this Chapter or with any other law applicable to public bodies or agencies.

E.  No commissioner shall be charged personally with any liability whatsoever by reason of any act or omission committed or suffered in the performance of his duties as commissioner or with respect to the operations of the agency, but any act, liability for omission or obligation of a commissioner in the performance of his duties or with respect to the operations of the agency shall extend to the whole of the property of the agency, or so much thereof as may be necessary or available to discharge such liability or obligation, and not otherwise.

F.(1)  If any commissioner, officer, or employee of the agency shall have an interest, either direct or indirect, in any contract to which the agency is, or is to be, a party, or in any lending institution requesting a loan from, or offering to sell insured mortgage loans to, the agency, such interest shall be disclosed to the agency in writing and shall be set forth in the minutes of the agency.

(2)  Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 42:1112, no commissioner appointed from nominations made by organizations as provided in R.S. 40:600.4(A)(3)(a) through (g) and (i), officer, or employee having such interest shall participate in any action by the agency with respect to such contract or lending institution.

(3)  No commissioner appointed from nominations made by the Louisiana AFL-CIO, as provided in R.S. 40:600.4(A)(3)(h), or from the general public, as provided in R.S. 40:600.4(A)(3)(j), having such interest shall participate in any action by the agency with respect to such contract or lending institution.

(4)  Nothing contained in this Subsection shall be deemed or construed to limit the right of any commissioner, officer, or employee of the agency to act as a real estate agent in any transaction wherein purchase financing is derived, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from the sale of securities of the agency, to acquire bonds of the agency, or to have an interest in any banking institution in which the funds of the agency are, or are to be, deposited or which is, or is to be, acting as trustee or paying agency under any resolution of the agency.

G.  The agency shall operate from self-generated revenues and shall not be a budget unit of the state.  The agency may, however, receive state appropriations at any time it is deemed advisable by the legislature, and only the expenditure of such appropriated funds shall be subject to budgetary controls or authority of the Division of Administration.  The agency shall establish its own operating budget for the use of its self-generated revenues or unencumbered fund balances subject to a two-thirds approval of the board of commissioners of the agency.  Any budget adopted shall be effective for a fiscal year commensurate with that of the state.

Added by Acts 1980, No. 707, §1, eff. July 24, 1980.  Acts 1984, No. 892, §1; Acts 1985, No. 882, §1; Acts 1995, No. 90, §1; Acts 2003, No. 983, §1, eff. July 1, 2003.