2016 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 36 - Organization of the Executive Branch
RS 36:8.1 - Litigation oversight; reports to the legislature

§8.1. Litigation oversight; reports to the legislature

            A.(1)(a) The head of each agency shall make and publish an annual report to the legislature containing a list of all civil actions brought in a court of law by the agency as a named party plaintiff.

            (b) The attorney general shall make and publish an annual report to the legislature containing a list of all civil actions brought in a court of law by the state of Louisiana as a named party plaintiff.

            (2) Each such report shall include all cases instituted, pending, or concluded during the preceding calendar year and shall:

            (a) Contain the names of all parties appearing as plaintiffs at any time during the litigation and all parties named as defendants at any time during the litigation as they appear on the pleadings, the court that has jurisdiction over the matter, the docket number, the cause of action being averred, and the relief being sought.

            (b) Indicate the current status of the case, including whether the case has been heard on the merits, whether there is a final judgment therein and, if so, an indication if the final judgment was determined on a procedural or substantive issue, whether the case has settled prior to any final judgment, and whether an appeal has been taken and, if so, if that appeal was initiated by the agency.

            (c) List the name or names of all outside counsel representing the agency or the state and the agreement of the agency or the attorney general on behalf of the agency or the state, including the hourly rate of pay for the attorney or attorneys and paraprofessionals or the percentage of compensation or commission or any other arrangement relative to compensation, including payment of compensation by a defendant.

            (3)(a) One week before the convening of each annual legislative session, a copy of the report shall be submitted by the head of each agency and the attorney general to the presiding officer of each house of the legislature and shall also be submitted in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 24:772.

            (b) The presiding officer shall refer the report to the appropriate committee having jurisdiction of the subject matter as provided in the rules of the respective house, and any legislative committee which receives a report may conduct a hearing thereon.

            B.(1) In addition to the report required in Subsection A of this Section, the head of each agency and the attorney general shall submit a quarterly report listing every civil action instituted by the agency or the attorney general since the submission of the last quarterly report.

            (2) The quarterly report shall be submitted in the form of an e-mail and shall be sent to the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library on or before the fourth Monday of the month in which the report is due. The e-mail shall be captioned in the subject line "Litigation Disclosure" and shall include the name of the submitting agency. It shall also contain a uniform resource locator (URL) link to a copy of the original petition for each civil action listed. The e-mail shall clearly indicate the applicable reporting period and list the name and contact information of the person submitting the e-mail and the person responsible for maintaining the URL, which URL shall be maintained by the agency or the attorney general for a minimum of one year.

            C. The provisions of this Section shall apply to any civil action filed by the following departments or offices, including offices and agencies thereof, collectively referred to in this Section as "agency":

            (1) Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

            (2) Department of State Civil Service.

            (3) Department of Economic Development.

            (4) Department of Education.

            (5) Department of Children and Family Services, except cases brought pursuant to the Children's Code and Title 46 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

            (6) Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

            (7) Department of Environmental Quality.

            (8) Louisiana Department of Health, including, but not limited to Medicaid fraud and recovery cases.

            (9) Department of Insurance.

            (10) Department of Justice.

            (11) Department of Natural Resources.

            (12) Department of Public Safety and Corrections, except cases involving the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law.

            (13) Department of Public Service.

            (14) Department of State.

            (15) Department of Transportation and Development.

            (16) Department of the Treasury.

            (17) Department of Veterans Affairs.

            (18) Department of Revenue, except those cases brought to collect less than ten thousand dollars of state taxes owed.

            (19) Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, except cases brought for class one violations under the provisions of R.S. 56:31.

            (20) Louisiana Workforce Commission, except cases involving recovery of unemployment insurance payments and workers' compensation fraud.

            (21) Office of the governor, including the division of administration.

            (22) Office of the lieutenant governor.

            D. As used in this Section, the following words and phrases have the following meanings ascribed to them unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

            (1) "Civil action" means any suit, action, or cause instituted in a court of law, exclusive of criminal matters, matters involving interstate compacts, actions to make executory a judgment or order of any adjudicatory body of this state, or an action brought pursuant to the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act.

            (2) "Court" or "court of law" means any court authorized by Article V of the Constitution of Louisiana.

            (3) "Head of each agency" means the department secretary or chief administrative officer of each department of the executive branch.

            (4) "Outside counsel" means any attorney, other than in-house counsel, who is being or has been paid by any agency or the state or who is entitled to or potentially entitled to compensation or a commission as a result of the legal proceeding. For purposes of this Paragraph, "in-house counsel" means any attorney employed by an agency, including the Department of Justice, who is eligible to participate in the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System by virtue of such employment.

            Acts 2014, No. 204, §1, eff. July 1, 2014.