Police jury

Last updated
Assumption Parish Police Jury Police Jury, Assumption Parish, 9 August 2023.png
Assumption Parish Police Jury

In the U.S. state of Louisiana, the most common type of governing body for a parish is the police jury (French: le jury de police). Louisiana is divided into parishes for units of local government, similar to the counties in other states. Initially, all parishes used the police jury system. Many have transitioned to other forms of government, especially after the 1974 state constitution granted the parishes more autonomy. In general, the more rural areas still use this older system.

Contents

The police jury is a legislative and executive body. Parishes are divided into wards or districts. These each elect a "juror" to the assembly. The jurors elect a police jury president as their chairman. The president presides over the police jury and serves as the titular head of the parish government. Police juries range in size, depending on population, from three to over fifteen members. Wide latitude is given to organize and administer parish business.

Etymology

A police jury was called a "police assembly" initially. A law passed on April 6, 1807, created groups to handle the "local police and administration of their parish". [1] Three years later, these were officially defined as "police juries" and given specific roles. [2] The term "jury" comes from the two aspects of the original police juries. They were the same size as grand juries and were presided over by the parish judge. [1]

History

The police jury system was introduced when the area was the Territory of Orleans. Two years after the Louisiana Purchase, [3] the newly formed legislative council divided the territory into 12 counties. These counties proved unmanageable, and the legislature reverted to using the smaller Catholic parishes, defined in 1762 as "the farthest area that the priest could ride on horseback, within reason, to go to the outlying churches to conduct a mass once a month". [2]

In 1810, the office of sheriff was created for each parish, and the police jury was officially defined one year later. [2] The original format had the parish judge presiding over the police jury, but this was quickly replaced with a police jury president, elected by the jurors from among their members. [4] In 1813, the parishes were subdivided into wards, each electing one juror. [2]

The Territory of Orleans had a different cultural background than other states and no experience with representative government. [3] The juries started with limited powers and an explicit mandate to maintain and regulate infrastructure, alcohol consumption, and slavery. [4] [1] Their role would grow to encompass over fifty government functions. [3] The 1974 State Constitution granted more autonomy to cities and parishes. This shifted from delegated authority where parishes could only do what was explicitly permitted, to "home rule" where the local government could do anything not explicitly prohibited. [5] Many parishes chose to transition away and drafted home rule charters, defining the structure, powers, and limits of their local government. [5]

Functions

East Carroll Parish Police Jury office complex in Lake Providence, Louisiana East Carroll Parish Police Jury complex IMG 7416.JPG
East Carroll Parish Police Jury office complex in Lake Providence, Louisiana

In Louisiana, the level of government between the city and state is the parish, comparable to the counties used by other US states. [3] The police jury handles the executive and legislative functions of the parish government. The parishes are divided into wards or districts. These each elect a "juror" to the assembly. [5] The assembly's size varies depending on the population, from three members in some rural parishes to over fifteen. The jurors elect a "police jury president" from among their members. [4] Like other elections in Louisiana, parish elections typically occur in odd-numbered years and use the open primary system. [4]

St. Helena Parish Police Jury, maintenance department in background Police jury.jpg
St. Helena Parish Police Jury, maintenance department in background

While originally narrow in scope and only holding powers delegated by the state, modern police juries have broad authority to take actions approved by the voters. According to the Police Jury Association of Louisiana, responsibilities include road maintenance, construction of prisons, waste disposal, bridge construction, fire protection, maintaining the courts plus other parish offices, promoting tourism, and regulating local businesses. They can also create ordinances and enforce them via fines in civil court. [4] To receive state funding, police juries are required to assign road maintenance to a centralized program to prevent conflicts of interest. [5] Police juries also administer state and federal programs at the local level. [3]

Forms of parish government

Map of Louisiana's 64 parishes Louisiana parishes map magnified.jpg
Map of Louisiana's 64 parishes

The police jury is the most common form of parish government in Louisiana. [6] Many parishes, especially those with large municipalities and suburban areas, have converted away from the system, although some parishes with large cities still use the police jury, including Bossier (Bossier City), Calcasieu (Lake Charles), Ouachita (Monroe) and Rapides (Alexandria). [4]

Twenty-six Louisiana parishes are governed by home rule charters that allow them to pick a different form of government. [6] These include council-president, council-manager, and consolidated parish/city. [4] Under a council-president system, voters elect an executive president and a legislative council separately. With the council-manager system, voters elect a parish council, which hires a professional manager to run the day-to-day government. A consolidated government combines the parish with the local city government, and voters typically elect a separate council and executive. [5] For example, since 1949 the state's capital city and its containing parish have used a consolidated government headed by a mayor-president. [7] [8]

Local government of each parish
ParishType of government
Acadia police jury
Allen police jury
Assumption police jury
Avoyelles police jury
Beauregard police jury
Bienville police jury
Bossier police jury
Calcasieu police jury
Caldwell police jury
Cameron police jury
Catahoula police jury
Claiborne police jury
Concordia police jury
DeSoto police jury
East Carroll police jury
East Feliciana police jury
Evangeline police jury
Franklin police jury
Grant police jury
Jackson police jury
Jefferson Davis police jury
La Salle police jury
Lincoln police jury
Madison police jury
Morehouse police jury
Ouachita police jury
Rapides police jury
Red River police jury
Richland police jury
Sabine police jury
St. Helena police jury
Tensas police jury
Union police jury
Vermillion police jury
Vernon police jury
Webster police jury
West Carroll police jury
Winn police jury
Ascension council-president
Iberia council-president
Iberville council-president
Jefferson council-president
Lafourche council-president
Livingston council-president
Natchitoches council-president
Plaquemines council-president
Pointe Coupee council-president
St. Bernard council-president
St. Charles council-president
St. James council-president
St. John the Baptist council-president
St. Landry council-president
St. Martin council-president
St. Mary council-president
St. Tammany council-president
Tangipahoa council-president
Washington council-president
West Baton Rouge council-president
West Feliciana council-president
Orleans Parish & New Orleans consolidated
East Baton Rouge Parish & Baton Rouge consolidated
Lafayette Parish & Lafayette consolidated
Terrebonne Parish & Houma consolidated
Caddo Parish council manager

Sources: [6] [4] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana</span> U.S. state

Louisiana is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 20th in land area and the 25th in population, with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage, Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties, making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties. Baton Rouge is the state's capital, and New Orleans, a French Louisiana region, is its largest city with a population of about 383,000 people. Louisiana has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the south; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baton Rouge, Louisiana</span> Capital city of Louisiana, United States

Baton Rouge is the capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it had a population of 227,470 as of 2020; it is the seat of Louisiana's most populous parish (county-equivalent), East Baton Rouge Parish, and the center of Louisiana's second-largest metropolitan area and city, Greater Baton Rouge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Tangipahoa Parish is a parish located on the southeastern border of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,157. The parish seat is Amite City, while the largest city is Hammond. Southeastern Louisiana University is located in Hammond. Lake Pontchartrain borders the southeastern side of the parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Calcasieu Parish is a parish located on the southwestern border of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 216,785. The parish seat is Lake Charles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bossier Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Bossier Parish is a parish located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 128,746.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of Louisiana</span> Principles, institutions and law of political governance in the U.S. state of Louisiana

The Louisiana Constitution is legally named the Constitution of the State of Louisiana and commonly called the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, and the Constitution of 1974. The constitution is the cornerstone of the law of Louisiana ensuring the rights of individuals, describing the distribution and power of state officials and local government, establishes the state and city civil service systems, creates and defines the operation of a state lottery, and the manner of revising the constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kip Holden</span> American politician

Melvin Lee "Kip" Holden, is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2016 as the Democratic Mayor-President of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The parish includes the state capital of Baton Rouge and smaller suburban cities such as Baker, Central City, and Zachary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leander Perez</span> American judge

Leander Henry Perez Sr. was an American Democratic Party political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in southeastern Louisiana during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district judge, later as district attorney, and as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council. He was known for leading efforts to enforce and preserve segregation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Louisiana</span> Politics of a U.S. state

The politics of Louisiana involve political parties, laws and the state constitution, and the many other groups that influence the governance of the state. The state was a one-party Deep South state dominated by the Democratic Party from the end of Reconstruction to the 1960s, forming the backbone of the "Solid South." This was due to the near-total disenfranchisement of the state's large African-American population during this time, who mostly voted Republican. The Civil Rights era turned the state into a competitive one on the federal level, as it voted for the nationwide winner in every election between 1972 and 2004. It remained Democratic on the state and local level until the turn of the 21st century, allowing Republicans to win control of the state legislature and every statewide office in 2011. Republicans won a United States Senate seat for Louisiana in the election of 2004, for the first time since 1876. Republicans captured both seats in the election of 2014 for the first time since 1872. In the election of 2008, the state voted for a losing presidential candidate for the first time since 1968. Democrats won less than 40% of the presidential popular vote in the state in the elections of 2016 and 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana State Police</span> Law Enforcement Agency

The Louisiana State Police is the state police agency of Louisiana, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state, headquartered in Baton Rouge. It falls under the authority of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is officially known in that organization as the Office of State Police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Weston Broome</span> Incumbent mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Sharon Weston Broome is the mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She served in the Louisiana State Senate representing the 15th district from 2005 to 2016. She was elected mayor-president in a runoff election held on December 10, 2016. Broome is the first African-American woman to serve as mayor-president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Nungesser</span> 54th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana

William Harold Nungesser is an American politician serving as the 54th lieutenant governor of Louisiana since 2016. A member of the Republican Party, Nungesser is also the former president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission, having been re-elected to a second four-year term in the 2010 general election in which he topped two opponents with more than 71 percent of the vote. His second term as parish president began on January 1, 2011, and ended four years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Baton Rouge, Louisiana</span>

The foundation of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, dates to 1721, at the site of a bâton rouge or "red stick" Muscogee boundary marker. It became the state capital of Louisiana in 1849.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Highway 72</span> State highway in Louisiana, United States

Louisiana Highway 72 (LA 72) is a state highway located in Bossier City, Louisiana. It runs 2.49 miles (4.01 km) in an east–west direction from the intersection of Barksdale Boulevard and Hamilton Road to a junction with the concurrent U.S. Highways 79 and 80.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana</span>

The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Louisiana, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.

St. George is the newest incorporated city in Louisiana. It was approved in a ballot initiative on October 12, 2019. Upon incorporation, it became the fifth largest city in Louisiana and the second largest in East Baton Rouge Parish with a population of 86,316. The city originated from a previously unincorporated area of East Baton Rouge Parish located southeast of the City of Baton Rouge.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Calhoun, Robert Dabney (January 1935). Walter Prichard (ed.). "The Origins of County–Parish Government". The Louisiana Historical Quarterly (1969 AMS reprint ed.). Vol. 18, no. 1. pp. 93, 94, 120.
  2. 1 2 3 4 KPLC (21 June 2007). "History of Police Jury Government". 7KPLC News. Lake Charles, Louisiana: KPLC.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Bourgeois, Andreé; Pino, Jennifer; and Laver, Tara (20052008). "Biographical/Historical Note". W.P.A. Collection Historical Records Survey Transcriptions of Louisiana Police Jury Records. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: LSU Libraries.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ouchley, Kelley (15 June 2021). "Police Juries". 64 Parishes. New Orleans: Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hancock, Harry J, ed. (1998). "Your Local Government." Your Louisiana Government: An Owner’s Manual . Baton Rouge: Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, 1998. Ch. 6, pp. 7382.
  6. 1 2 3 McCreary St. Romain, Sunny, ed. (2019). "Parish Government Structure". Police Jury Association of Louisiana. Retrieved 11 October 2023. Archived 11 October 2023.
  7. Higginbotham Makes History As First Mayor-President. 1 January 1949. Baton Rouge State-Times. § B, p. 25.
  8. "200 Years of Baton Rouge History: An Interactive Timeline". 2017. Baton Rouge 200. East Baton Rouge Parish Library. § 1949.