2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 49 — State administration
RS 49:259 — Department of justice legal support fund

§259. Department of Justice Legal Support Fund

A. There is hereby established in the state treasury a special fund to be known as the Department of Justice Legal Support Fund, hereinafter referred to as the "fund". The fund shall be comprised of a portion of proceeds recovered by the attorney general on behalf of the state from court judgments, settlements, fines, fees, forfeitures and penalties, or from proceeds recovered by the attorney general from any other source from which revenues are designated by the attorney general for deposit into the fund, except those judgments and recoveries made on or pertaining to any office of risk management litigation or litigation involving the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality as provided in Subsection D of this Section.

B. After satisfying the requirements of the Bond Security and Redemption Fund as provided in Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana, the treasurer shall pay into the fund each fiscal year an amount equal to the proceeds provided in Subsection A of this Section in an amount which is sufficient to bring the balance in the fund to ten million dollars. The balance of the fund shall not exceed ten million dollars. Any proceeds remaining after making the deposit into the fund shall be deposited into the state general fund.

C. The monies in the fund shall be annually appropriated to the Department of Justice solely for the purposes of defraying the costs of expert witnesses, consultants, contract legal counsel, technology, specialized employee training and education, and public education initiatives. Monies appropriated from the fund shall be used to supplement the Department of Justice budget and shall in no way be used to displace, replace, or supplant appropriations from the state general fund for operations of the Department of Justice below the level of state general fund appropriations for that department in the current fiscal year.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this Section, no proceeds shall be deposited into the fund from court-awarded judgments and settlements involving the Department of Natural Resources as specified in R.S. 30:136.3(B)(1), nor any judgments, settlements, or recoveries which are designated for credit to the Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Fund, the Environmental Trust Fund, or any other funds administered by the Department of Environmental Quality under the Environmental Quality Act. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this Section, no proceeds shall be deposited into the fund from court-awarded judgments and settlements involving the Department of Transportation and Development.

E. All unexpended and unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall remain in the fund. Monies in the fund shall be invested by the treasurer in the same manner as those in the state general fund, and any interest earned on such investment shall be deposited in and credited to the state general fund.

Acts 2004, No. 586, §1, eff. June 29, 2004; Acts 2005, No. 420, §1, eff. July 1, 2006; Acts 2010, No. 1033, §1, eff. July 1, 2010.