Law to oust some elected officials
Published 8:29 am Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Fifteen Southwest Louisiana justices of the peace and constables could be prohibited from seeking re-election based on legislation passed during the previous legislative session that mandates a retirement age of 70.
In total, almost 190 in the state would be barred from seeking re-election this fall because of Senate Bill 583, sponsored by Sen. Elbert Guillory, R-Opelousas, at the beginning of the 2014 session. The law took effect in August.
The bill amended a 2008 law that enacted the mandatory retirement age but let officials who were elected prior to 2006 keep serving. The Guillory bill eliminated the grandfather clause.
Justices of the peace and constables are elected for six-year terms as staffers in small claims court. JPs head up evictions and officiate at weddings and constables serve court papers.
State Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Moss Bluff, was one of 87 House members who voted in favor of the bill, but Geymann said he now wants it repealed. It passed the Senate 30-0.
“We all know someone who is personally affected by this. It passed under the radar and now it’s in effect. It’s a big deal,” Geymann said Monday. “Most of us in the Legislature want to know why there was no opposition during the session.”
He said legislators are trying to “get to the bottom of it.”
He said he relied on the committee process and associations to provide opposition to bills.
“The fact that a bill can go through a Senate committee and on the Senate floor without any cards for or against amazes me,” he said. “There was no spirited debate on either side.”
Connie Moore, president of the Louisiana Justices of the Peace and Constables Association, told nola.com the organization had nothing to do with the new law. She also said she is working with the state attorney general’s office to consider its options.
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and only had one vote in opposition in the House.
Constable Orgy Broussard, 88, said he planned to seek another term in Iowa, La., and is headed to Baton Rouge on Wednesday to meet with other justices of the peace and constables across the state.
“I’m sick about this,” Broussard said. “I do my work just as good as someone who is 21 years old.”
Complete list of those affected by new law:
Beauregard
District 1: Constable Alfred Doyle, 70
District 4: Justice of the Peace Clyde Dennis, 71
District 1: Justice of the Peace Allen R. Brown, 80
Calcasieu
Ward 7 in Vinton: Deputy Constable Carolyn Doucette, 70
Ward 5 in DeQuincy: Justice of the Peace Gerald A. Fountain, 70
Ward 7 in Vinton: Constable Wayne Doucette, 76
Ward 8 in Iowa: Constable Orgy Broussard, 88
Cameron
Ward 1: Justice of the Peace Carrie Broussard, 72
Ward 2: Constable Freddie Theriot, 76
Ward 1: Constable Nolan J. Broussard, 80
Jeff Davis
Ward 6: Constable Lee A. Landry, 73
Ward 6: Justice of the Peace George Gotreaux, 75
Vernon
Ward 4: Constable Dan Atchison, 70
Ward 7: Justice of the Peace Lavell Johnson, 71
Ward 4: Justice of the Peace Arlene Cook, 73
Jim Beam / American Press
