2018 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 33 - Municipalities and Parishes
RS 33:1392 - Terrebonne Parish; charter commission; plan of government
NOTE: Former §1392, dealing with the charter commission and plan of government for Terrebonne Parish, was removed from the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 pursuant to Acts 2014, No. 158, §4 but remains in effect as a Local and Special Act; see Acts 1979, No. 341 for content.
§1392. Terrebonne Parish; charter commission; plan of government
A. The people of Terrebonne Parish shall have the power to establish, in the manner hereinafter provided, government for the parish and the municipal corporations and other political subdivisions and districts situated therein, pursuant to the authority granted under Article VI, Section 5(D) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.
B. Terrebonne Parish Charter Commission.
(1) The Terrebonne Parish Police Jury, hereinafter referred to as the police jury, and the governing authority of the city of Houma are hereby authorized to create a Terrebonne Parish Charter Commission consisting of twenty persons who are residents of the parish and have been qualified voters in said parish for a minimum period of one year prior to their appointment.
(2) The members of the commission shall be the following persons:
Fifteen members appointed by the police jury, provided that one member shall be appointed from each police jury district and further provided that six of the members so appointed shall be residents of the city of Houma; five members appointed by the mayor of the city of Houma with the approval of the city council of Houma.
(3) The commission shall be created by adoption of a resolution creating such commission by a majority vote by the police jury and by the governing authority of the city of Houma. Members appointed to the commission no later than the thirtieth day following the adoption of the resolution creating the commission shall constitute the commission with full power to act hereunder. In the event all members of the commission have not been appointed at such time, the commission members who have been appointed shall within thirty days thereafter, by majority vote, appoint any members not appointed initially by the appointing authority herein designated, provided that the total membership of the commission include at least one member from each affected local governmental subdivision.
(4) The commission shall elect a chairman from among its members who shall vote only in the event of a tie, and the commission shall have complete and sole authority to elect any other officers it deems necessary from among the membership of the commission.
(5) Any vacancy in the membership of the commission shall be filled by appointment by the same officer or body who initially appointed the member whose position becomes vacant.
C. It shall be the duty of the commission to conduct a study of the feasibility of changing the present systems of government of the parish of Terrebonne and of the municipal corporations and other political subdivisions and districts located therein. The commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the police jury within six months after the police jury and the governing authority of the city of Houma have adopted a resolution creating the commission. If the feasibility study recommends a change in the present systems of government of the parish of Terrebonne and of the municipal corporations and other political subdivisions and districts located therein, the commission shall within nine months following such report to the police jury prepare and submit to the police jury a plan or alternate plans of government for Terrebonne Parish and the municipal corporations and other political subdivisions and districts located therein. Any such plan or alternate plans must be approved by a majority vote of the membership of the commission prior to being submitted to the police jury.
D. The commission shall have authority to employ such employees and consultants as it may deem necessary to assist the commission in the discharge of its responsibility to the extent that funds are made available; provided, however, that the police jury and the governing authority of the city of Houma first approve such expenditures. The police jury, the municipal corporations and other political subdivisions and districts situated in Terrebonne Parish, the sheriff of Terrebonne Parish, and all other officers of the parish shall have the authority to appropriate or allocate such funds as may be required to defray the expenses incident to the work of the commission, including the employment of all necessary personnel. Unless a quorum is present, the commission shall not take any binding or final action on any item. A quorum shall be defined as a majority of the total membership of the commission.
E. Not later than six months following the date of submission of such plan or alternate plans of government to the police jury by the commission, the police jury shall call an election to submit such plan or alternate plans to the voters for their approval or rejection. Except as otherwise provided herein, the election provided for in this Subsection shall be conducted and the returns thereof canvassed and promulgated according to the procedures for the holding of elections at which a proposition or a question is to be submitted to the voters provided in Chapter 6-B of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. Not later than ten days following the calling of such election, the police jury shall cause a full text of the plan or alternate plans of government to be published in the official journal of the parish. All qualified voters of Terrebonne Parish shall be entitled to vote in such election. The commission shall prescribe the form of ballot. The police jury shall promulgate the returns of the election and shall cause a proces verbal of the election to be filed with the clerk of court of the parish. Any plan or alternate plan of government approved by a majority of the total votes cast at such election and a majority of the votes cast in the municipality located within Terrebonne Parish at such election shall be adopted as the home rule charter for Terrebonne Parish and the municipal corporations and other political subdivisions and districts located within Terrebonne Parish, to become effective at such time or times as may be provided therein. A certified copy of any such approved plan shall be filed with the secretary of state.
If alternative plans are submitted and no plan receives a majority of votes cast at such election and a majority of the votes cast in the municipality located within Terrebonne Parish at such election, a second election shall be held five weeks after the date of the first election, and there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of Terrebonne Parish at such second election only the two plans which received the highest number of votes in the first election. The second election shall be conducted under the same procedure prescribed for the first election. Any plan of government approved by a majority of the total votes cast at said second election and a majority of the votes cast in the municipality located within Terrebonne Parish at said second election shall be adopted as the home rule charter for Terrebonne Parish and the municipal corporations and other political subdivisions and districts located within Terrebonne Parish, to become effective at such time or times as may be provided therein. A certified copy of any such approved plan shall be filed with the secretary of state.
F. It is the intention of the legislature to afford wide latitude, subject to all general laws of the state applicable to municipalities, parishes and other political subdivisions, and subject to all special laws applicable to Terrebonne Parish, to the people of Terrebonne Parish to adopt a home rule charter for the government of Terrebonne Parish and the municipal corporations and other political subdivisions and districts situated therein; and to that end the commission is empowered to propose either a single plan or two or more alternate single plans of government. Any such plan may provide but not be limited to the following:
(1) For the abolition of the police jury form of government or the abolition of any other form of government of a local governmental subdivision to be affected by said plan.
(2) For consolidation or reorganization of all or part of the local governmental subdivisions, units, agencies, and political subdivisions in the parish; for elimination or transfer of powers and functions of such units, agencies, and subdivisions; for the creation of one or more new local governmental units, agencies, or political subdivisions; for the reorganization of one or more local governmental subdivisions, units, agencies, or political subdivisions; and for all matters necessary or appropriate to the effectuation of such provisions, including without limitation the assumption by one local governmental subdivision, unit, agency or political subdivision of the indebtedness of another local governmental subdivision, unit, agency or political subdivision and transfer of office personnel, records, funds, and other property and assets. These provisions shall apply whether or not the local governmental subdivisions, units, agencies, and political subdivisions in the parish as herein referred to are established or authorized under the provisions of this Section, provided that the alternate plan or plans submitted shall not reduce or have the effect of reducing the term of office of any elected official in office on the effective date of this Section, and further provided that the functions of the office of sheriff of Terrebonne Parish, as provided in Article V, Section 27 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, shall not be diminished; and provided that the above provisions shall not prevent the consolidation of the office of sheriff in Terrebonne Parish with that of the police department of the City of Houma, provided that if such consolidation is undertaken the sheriff of Terrebonne shall serve as the chief law enforcement officer of Terrebonne Parish.
(3) For revenue for the support of one or more local governmental subdivisions, units, agencies, or political subdivisions proposed by the plan, including without limitation allocation of parish revenues to other local governmental subdivisions, units, agencies, or political subdivisions.
G. Amendment of Plan. The plan of government shall be subject to amendment by the election of the people as provided therein, except that no such amendment shall be inconsistent with the provisions hereof.
H. In the event the police jury and the governing authority of the city of Houma do not create a charter commission in accordance with the provisions of this Section, the police jury and the governing authority of the city of Houma shall appoint a commission in accordance with the provisions of this Section if a petition, signed by not less than ten percent of the electors or ten thousand electors, whichever is fewer, who reside within the boundaries of Terrebonne Parish as certified by the Registrar of Voters, is presented to the police jury.
Added by Acts 1979, No. 341, §1, eff. July 10, 1979.
