2020 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
Title 15 - Criminal Procedure
§254.5. Plans for witness fees to off-duty law enforcement officers; Ascension Parish

RS 254.5 - Plans for witness fees to off-duty law enforcement officers; Ascension Parish

A. The governing authority of Ascension Parish shall adopt a plan under which each law enforcement officer who, because of his official connections with any criminal case as the arresting officer or in some other official capacity, is required to be present as a witness in any criminal case which is being tried in the Ascension Parish Court, during any time when he otherwise is not required to report to work or perform the duties of his job, shall be paid witness fees in the amount of fifteen dollars for each case for which his presence in the court is required and for which he was present. No officer shall be allowed more than thirty dollars in any one day regardless of the number of cases for which he is required to be present.

B. The plan adopted for the payment of witness fees to law enforcement officers shall be applicable to all law enforcement officers alike and shall be paid whenever any law enforcement officer is required to be present and is present in one or more cases in such court during his regular time off.

C. Compensation allowed law enforcement officers as witnesses in accordance with the provisions of this Section shall not be deemed to be in lieu of, or to constitute any portion of, the salary or compensation paid to such law enforcement officers for the performance of the duties of their jobs, nor shall the payment of such witness fees be taken into consideration in determining the salary, any salary increase or any supplemental pay by the state to which any law enforcement officer is or becomes entitled.

D. Witness fees provided for by this Section shall be paid from costs of court collected in individual cases tried in the parish court, which shall be assessed as a part of the costs of court to be collected in such cases, and shall be collected for each case in which there is a plea of guilty or in which there is a conviction. When the governing authority adopts a plan for the payment of these witness fees, the judge or judges of the parish court shall adopt a schedule of costs which shall be applicable in each case to which such costs are applicable. All of such costs shall be placed, as they are collected, in a special fund which shall be maintained and be administered by the parish governing authority and from which the witness fees herein provided for shall be paid. Fees due under this Section shall be transmitted to the law enforcement officer's employer within thirty days after the officer qualifies for the fee. The employer shall be responsible for calculating and withholding all requisite deductions for taxes and for transferring or remitting all sums of employee withholdings to the appropriate taxing authorities, on behalf of the law enforcement officer and, within thirty days after receipt of the funds, for making payment of the appropriate net amount to the law enforcement officer. The judge or judges shall have authority, from time to time as the needs of the fund require, to adjust the schedule of costs.

Added by Acts 1982, No. 613, §1; Acts 1993, No. 705, §1; Acts 2005, No. 96, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2006.